Cerberus
by Jaenera Targaryen
Summary: It is the Fourth Holy Grail War. A woman calling herself 'Cerberus' enters the war, simultaneously preventing Matou from participating and working to advance her own agenda within the conflict. Who is she truly? What does she seek to gain? This is her story.
1. Part I

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part I

Cerberus blinked as one of her mental alarms went off, and turning away from watching young Issei Ryuudo struggle with his _katas _slipped further into the complex that was Ryuudo Temple. Here, at the intersection of three ley-lines, above the Holy Grail itself, Cerberus had made her lair. Spells allowed her to siphon off great amounts of prana from the ley-lines, as well as to pass herself off as a friend of the head monk who was currently boarding in the temple until certain circumstances had been resolved.

Slipping into one of several rooms she'd taken for herself, a gesture had several holographic screens come to life, and it was on one of them that Cerberus homed in on. Narrowing her eyes, she observed as a beautiful, platinum-blonde woman dressed in rich, silvery furs make her way through an airport terminal, chatting with her companion all the while. Said companion was…a woman? Possibly…she certainly had the face for it, though she – he (?) – could also just be a particularly feminine-looking man.

It didn't matter. The companion was dressed in a predominantly-black business ensemble, her golden blonde hair a good contrast with the other woman's platinum-blonde hair.

"Which do you think is the Servant, Assassin?" Cerberus asked.

Unnoticed, a pretty, adolescent-looking girl approached from one corner, Assassin having dispensed with her usual clothes and mask for something more modern, and to show her face to the world. Alone among those who bore the name of the Old Man of the Mountain, she had not sacrificed her physical identity as others had, if only to prevent one of her greatest, sharpest weapons as a bringer of death from being lost.

As is often said, a pretty face and a sweet voice are many a man's downfall.

"The one in black, I would say." Assassin answered after a moment. "The woman in white does not have the bearing of a fighter, and while she hides it well, the woman in black has what her Master does not."

"Hmm…and which Servant is she, I wonder?"

"Forgiveness…I have no answer."

Cerberus waved it off. "It's no concern right now." She said, before gesturing at the other screens.

Images shifted and displayed new – or old – information, updated regularly with information provided by familiars and spy mysteries. "All seven Masters have finally arrived." Cerberus said, indicating each screen in turn. "Tokiomi Tohsaka, Kayneth Archibald, Waver Velvet, Kirei Kotomine, that murderer down by the docks, myself, and this new arrival."

"Then it is only a matter of time before the war will begin in earnest." Assassin observed.

"Yes," Cerberus said with a nod. "Though something isn't right here."

"Master?"

Cerberus adjusted her screens, one of them displaying the Emiya mansion as viewed from three different directions. "Kiritsugu Emiya should be one of the Masters," she began. "And it does look like he's ready for quite a fight, given all the guns and explosives he keeps with him there. But…he has no Servant. Why?"

Assassin had no answer, and after a moment Cerberus turned towards her. "Infiltrate the Emiya mansion," she ordered. "Find out just what Emiya's game is."

Assassin bowed, and then vanished into astral form to perform her Master's bidding. Alone now, Cerberus turned back to her screens. She watched in silence for several long moments, and then shifted attention to another mansion in the suburbs.

"_They're probably increasingly worried why they haven't received command spells yet._" She thought. "_Once the war begins in full, I doubt they won't be able to keep off on taking active action. Of course, all they'll be doing is walk into my trap of their own volition._"

Cerberus smiled at the thought, though it was utterly without warmth.

* * *

_In the darkness of Ryuudo Temple, a young woman worked in the light of the Moon to draw out a mandala on a wooden floor. Stones taken from the ruins of the fortress of Alamut had been ground into powder, and it was this powder that was used to mark the mandala._

_Twin concentric circles with four smaller circles in the space in between in the four cardinal directions were drawn, followed by hermetic symbols in the smaller circles and along the edge of the inner circle. David's star followed, then another four smaller circles above the horizontal points of the star where they touched the outer circles. Hermetic symbols were also drawn within these circles, while at the heart of the star an esoteric sigil was drawn, unique to the mystery to be invoked, and completing the mandala's representation of what it was meant to achieve._

_Moonlight glimmered on a drawn blade, and then on blood as the former was drawn across a palm. Blood dripped down in generous quantities on the mandala, which began to glow as a connection was forged and opened._

_"Let silver and steel be the essence." The young woman began to speak the aria, the summoning ritual for her Servant in the Fourth Holy Grail War beginning in full. "Let stone and the Archduke of Contracts be the foundation. Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate."_

_Blood continued to drip down from the young woman's hand, falling onto the mandala's edge and causing its light to build as the ritual proceeded. With every spoken word the light pulsed, almost like a heartbeat, as the ritual built up to its conclusion, one way or another._

_"Let it be declared now," the young woman continued. "Your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. Answer, if you would submit to this will and truth. An oath shall be sworn here: I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven, and I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell."_

_The mandala flashed, and beginning to rotate, slowly projected a replica of itself rotating in sync above. "From the Seventh Heaven," the young woman concluded. "Attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, Protector of the Holy Balance!"_

_The mandalas flashed to blinding, prana visibly swirling inside and coalescing into a lithe, toned, and dark-clothed figure that was all too feminine in its appearance. Short-cut hair shaded as though with amethyst waved in an ethereal breeze, the light of the mandalas glimmering on her silvered half-mask._

_And then the light faded, Servant Assassin raising her face to face she who had summoned her._

_"By your summons I have come." She said softly. "Answer me, are you my Master?"_

_"I am." The young woman answered._

_"My arm is yours." Assassin said with a bow. "Might this one have the honor of your name?"_

_The young woman smiled. "I am Cerberus." She answered._

* * *

"_Master,_"

The thought came as Cerberus was taking her afternoon meal with the monks at Ryuudo Temple, simple but solid fare. White rice, miso soup with tofu and spring onions, steamed winter vegetables, and fried fish.

Cerberus put down her chopsticks, and lifted her soup bowl to her lips. "_What is it?_" she asked through her telepathic link.

"_I have infiltrated the Emiya property as you ordered,_" Assassin reported. "_And listening in on their conversation have uncovered the truth of his strategy. The new arrivals from earlier…the woman in white is Emiya's wife. And his decoy._"

"_Decoy?_" Cerberus echoed before realization slammed home. "_I see! Oh very clever…and ruthless too, to use his own wife to draw his enemies' attention, while he gets ready to shoot them in the back._"

Silent laughter echoed through their telepathic linked, tinged with irony. "_The war really changed you, Mister Emiya._" Cerberus thought. "_You're a very different man from what I remember of you. Anything more?_"

"_Yes, Master. I have uncovered the class of his Servant, if not her identity. She is the Servant Saber._"

"_Saber…shit, the most outstanding of all Servant classes. More importantly…hmm, a blonde swordswoman then, most likely. There's a lot of candidates for it, but given her North European features…Boudica, maybe? Joan of Arc? Who else could fit…regardless, we cannot afford to engage them directly. No offense intended, Assassin, but you are no match for her in a straight fight._"

"_I am aware, Master. And no offense was taken._"

Cerberus put down her soup bowl and returned to her meal. "_Withdraw for now, Assassin._" She said. "_There's no need for you to continue loitering there._"

"_Yes, Master._" She said. "_However, there is one other piece of information I have uncovered._"

"_Oh?_"

"_I have discovered Emiya's strategy to open the war with tonight._" Assassin said. "_He intends to have his wife and Saber go into the city, and observe them from the shadows. The latter will be disguised, at least physically, but will otherwise make no effort to conceal their presence._"

"_I see._" Cerberus thought with narrowed eyes. "_He's using her as bait. His own wife…Mister Emiya, just how ruthless were – **are **– you?_"

"_What should we do, Master?_"

"_I will consider our next move carefully. For now, withdraw._"

"_By your command._"

As the link fell silent, Cerberus returned to her meal in silence, her mind already weighing the changes to her plans that Assassin's new information necessitated.

* * *

"You're going out yourself, Master?" Assassin asked with the faintest hint of worry.

"There's no rule that says Masters shouldn't stand on the front lines themselves." Cerberus said, while double-checking the seals on her armor. She wore a black bodysuit with a toughened exterior, while heavy trauma plates of super-strong steel alloy protected her limbs and torso, an armored waist harness, gauntlets, and boots doing likewise for her hands, waist, hips, crotch, and feet. "Conventional wisdom only dictates otherwise because Heaven's Feel is supposed to be a battle between Servants, and not Masters. But, conventional wisdom has never really applied to me. Not really."

Cerberus chuckled as memories floated through her mind, and finishing her checks, activated the mystic code built into her left gauntlet. It came to life with a whine, the large diamond fitted into the gauntlet's palm beginning to glow, and seeming to…suck in, the space around it. A moment later and the latter stopped, the mystic code entering standby mode until Cerberus had need of it.

"But," Assassin began. "With all due respect Master, you should not have to put yourself at risk. Such is my role as your Servant."

"That is true." Cerberus agreed. "But you cannot be everywhere at once. And Emiya requires…special, handling. No, you cannot play that role, Assassin. Not unless we want to kill him, and well, I don't want to. At least not yet. If necessary though…"

Cerberus trailed off, while looking silently into the distance, lost in her memories. Finally, she shook her head, and turned to look at Assassin.

"Follow the predetermined plan," she said to her Servant while strapping her sword, a _wakizashi _forged by Muramasa himself in the sixteenth century, to her left hip. "Follow Missus Emiya and Saber, reporting on the situation regularly."

"By your command."

Cerberus nodded, and lifting her helmet, fitted it over her head and sealing it with a hiss of pressurization. Then turning her head and regarding Assassin through a visor of specially-treated sapphire crystal, continued. "I will handle Emiya myself." She said, her voice muffled and changed by the helmet's speakers and scrubbers. "Now, let us go."

Assassin bowed and shifted into astral form, and a moment later Cerberus also vanished, in her case by absorbing any and all light falling onto her, and thus rendering her invisible to the naked eye. Slipping out of the temple complex and down the staircase, Cerberus reinforced her legs to move faster than she normally would be able to.

"_Now then,_" Cerberus thought as she swept down the mountainside, towards the city of Fuyuki. "_Let us turn to the matter of the war._"

* * *

A/N

Once more with feeling, I guess.

As you might expect, 'Cerberus' is just an alias, and not her real name. And yes, it's as you read, she has past (?) history with Kiritsugu Emiya. Who is she then? A former lover? A relative? Someone he crossed paths/worked/fought with in the past? Who knows? We shall see soon enough. On a meta level, there is a video game reference between the alias and the description of her armor.

As for Assassin, it is rather obvious which incarnation of the Old Man of the Mountain she's supposed to be (for those not in the know, it's Hassan of Serenity).


	2. Part II

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part II

"_Status?_"

"_It is as you see, Master._"

For all that Servants were Heroic Spirits incarnated by mysteries infinitely close to True Magic, they were still technically familiars. Without a constant supply of prana, they would be unable to sustain their continued existence within the World, and would cease to be, the energies making up their form within the World cast back into the Grail. And the more powerful the Servant, the greater the prana requirement for their continued existence. The inverse also applied.

More to the point, with Servants constantly being fed a stream of prana from their Masters, a connection existed between them that was no different from that which existed between magi and...lesser, familiars. And much like with the latter, if both parties consented, either could see through the other's eyes.

Cerberus now looked through Assassin's eyes, the Servant of Assassination cloaked in shadows while observing the battlefield below. Two knights dueled there, one a blonde woman in blue and silver, and the other a dark-haired man in dark leathers. The former fought with an invisible blade, and the latter with a short spear of golden metal.

"_…Master,_" Assassin began. "_I feel…strange, looking at that man's face._"

"_Yes,_" Cerberus replied, her thoughts tinged with uncertainty. "_I feel the same way. I am…I feel…warm…inside, when I look at…oh son of a…!_"

In an instant, Cerberus' thoughts shifted from uncertainty to surprise, shock, anger, and embarrassment as she realized what it was. "_That Servant has a Mystic Face!_" she snapped. "_Keep your guard up, Assassin!_"

"_Yes, Master._"

Master and Servant watched in silence, the former from a distance through the latter's eyes, and the latter in person. They surveyed the battlefield beyond the Servants crossing blades below, acknowledged the presence of Saber's (decoy) Master nearby, and who was probably Lancer's Master. The latter was standing on top of a nearby building, much like Assassin herself, cloaked in shadows…

…and his back guarded by an eerily-large blob of mercury. "_Wait a minute,_" Cerberus thought in realization. "_That looks…familiar, but not familiar at the same time. Could it be…Volumen Hydragyrum? Huh…so that's what its default state looks like? Interesting…_"

"That's enough playing around, Lancer!" Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald snapped. "Do not allow this fight to drag on any further. Saber is a formidable opponent, defeat her with all haste. You may use your Noble Phantasm."

Assassin and Cerberus alike focused once more on the battlefield, as Lancer discarded his shorter spear, and dispelled the talismans protecting the longer spear, now revealed to be made of some sort of crimson metal. They watched as Lancer boasted of how he would expose the truth of Saber's Noble Phantasm…

…and then both were gasping as Lancer lived up to his claim, the crimson spear cutting through what seemed to be a tightly-contained vortex of wind around a gleaming, golden blade. There was no mistaking that weapon, and Assassin's mind filled with alarm. "_Master,_" she said. "_It is Excalibur: The Sword of Promised Victory!_"

"_And that means Saber is King Arthur…or should it be Queen Altria? Hmm…historical distortion? Or is it something else? Curious…very curious…_"

"_Also,_" Assassin began. "_I believe I now know who Lancer is. Between his face that supernaturally entrances women on sight, and a spear that can negate magic on touch…that is Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, the Knight of Fianna._"

"_Gae Dearg: The Crimson Rose of Exorcism,_" Cerberus thought, focusing on the crimson spear in his hand. "_And its mate would be Gae Buidhe: The Golden Rose of Mortality. A first-class Servant, indeed. As should be expected, from Lord Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald._"

Cerberus' thoughts trailed off as the battle resumed, and Lancer and Saber crossed blades once more. They watched as Lancer used Gae Dearg to shear through Saber's armor as though it wasn't even there, magically-generated as it was, and though it quickly reformed after contact ceased, the damage had been done, Saber forced to disengage momentarily to allow her (decoy) Master to heal her.

"_Keep an eye on the battle._" Cerberus ordered. "_I think it's time to say hello to Mister Emiya._"

"_Yes, my Master._"

* * *

Kiritsugu Emiya and his partner/apprentice/mistress Maiya Hisau lay prone on top of an incomplete building a good distance from the battlefield. A combination of night vision binoculars and infra-red scopes allowed them to spy on their enemies, drawn out as they were by Irisviel and Saber, with the infra-red scopes in particular allowing them to find magi even if they were hidden from normal sight. While it wasn't beyond the abilities of magi to hide their heat signatures, most never bothered, having no reason to do so.

It was an oversight which Kiritsugu had long used to his advantage, and continued to do so.

"Oh now that is very clever." A voice suddenly said behind them, and in an instant both Kiritsugu and Maiya were on their feet, MP5 submachine guns held at the ready. Only, there wasn't anything or anyone to aim at. The voice also seemed to come from everywhere in hindsight.

"Show yourself."

"Infra-red scopes…I'm guessing you use it to find magi through the usual concealment spells, by finding the excess heat magic circuits in use generate, yes?"

"…wouldn't you like to know?" Kiritsugu asked back.

There was laughter. "That is answer enough." The voice said, and then a figure materialized near Maiya, clad in a black bodysuit under gold-trimmed, white-finished armor. A golden hexagon was proudly emblazoned on the left side of the cuirass.

And he – she (?) – was right next to Maiya.

To her credit, Maiya reacted quickly, trying to open up the distance and bring her weapon to bear. She managed to take a couple of steps, but before she could fire her MP5 had been kicked out of her hands, and the assassin was on her.

Realizing there was no time, Maiya didn't bother to go for her knife, and just attacked with her fists. The assassin blocked with her wrists, letting Maiya take the initiative and repeatedly strike out at her and riposting every so often…while also keeping Maiya between Kiritsugu and the assassin.

"You're pretty good," the assassin grunted. "But I'm better."

The assassin then feinted, and grabbing Maiya by the arm, twisted her elbow apart. The dark-haired woman cried out in pain, and then she was being twisted around and down, before an armored foot struck down at her thigh. Again, Maiya cried out as her thigh bones broke under the pressure.

"Maiya!" Kiritsugu shouted while pulling the trigger, the assassin's back now open to him. But even as he opened fire, the assassin dropped Maiya, and held out her left hand. A jewel in the palm glowed bright as it projected a translucent globe around her, nine-millimeter rounds splattering harmlessly against it.

Kiritsugu didn't let up, firing until his clip ran dry, and in one smooth motion, brought up his Thompson Contender and fired. The .223 Remington struck the barrier…

…and just like the nine-millimeter rounds, splattered harmlessly against it.

"My turn." The assassin said, simultaneously dropping her barrier while drawing her sword with her right hand. And then she leapt forward, even as Kiritsugu dropped his guns and drew his knife.

"Time Alter-Double Accel!" he cast, and everything went to high-speed. Sparks flew as Kiritsugu's industrially-forged knife met the assassin's hand-forged sword, and then both were drawing back to strike again, the assassin switching to a two-handed grip. Again and again they crossed blades, sparks flying, Kiritsugu unable to gain the initiative, as even with Time Alter-Double Accel the assassin was still moving ever so slightly faster than he was.

"You're actually pretty good!" she praised, but Kiritsugu didn't bother to respond.

"Time Alter-Triple Accel!"

Now it was his turn to move faster, crossing blades twice more before taking advantage of the time gap to punch through the assassin's guard, only for his blade to be turned by her armor. "_Steel…?_" Kiritsugu thought, springing back as the assassin counterattacked, her sword swinging up, one-handed.

Even with Time Alter-Triple Accel, he couldn't completely dodge, and he felt a cut open up along his jawline. And then the assassin was swinging down, in a move Kiritsugu recognized a textbook _kendo _technique. He blocked, the two assassins matching their strength, and in that brief moment Kiritsugu realized that the whole time, his enemy had been using Japanese martial arts. _Jujutsu _for unarmed combat, and _kendo _for bladed combat.

And then he gave way, causing the assassin to stumble, and Kiritsugu took advantage of it to deliver a reinforced kick to her torso. He then bit back a grunt of pain as he felt his foot and leg get jarred by the force of impact. "_It really is made of steel._" He thought.

The assassin gave way, flying with the blow to land lithely near the far side of the roof. She quickly recovered and took her stance, sword held one-handed behind her, left palm facing Kiritsugu, the gem in her palm glowing bright.

Kiritsugu similarly took a stance, knife held forward in one hand, and the other drawn back, fingers clenched into a fist. "You really are as good as they said you were." The assassin said with genuine respect.

"…are you testing me?" Kiritsugu hissed.

"Not really…just saying hello." The assassin replied.

"You have a strange way of saying it."

The assassin laughed. "I guess." She admitted. "Though it does serve to drive the point home."

"And what point is that?" Kiritsugu asked.

The assassin tilted her head. "Something a friend once told me," she said. "When you save someone's life, it means not saving someone else's."

Kiritsugu's eyes flew wide in shock and surprise, his expression matching. And in that moment, the assassin jumped back, simultaneously blasting their equipment to pieces while flipping over the edge of the roof and into the darkness below. Kiritsugu rushed forward, and picking up a gun Maiya threw at him along the way.

Quickly flipping the safety, he peered over the edge, gun held at the ready…

…only there was no sign of the assassin. Whether somehow climbing down the building's side, or splattered on the ground below from the fall. It was as if she was simply gone. And then her voice came, coming from everywhere, as before.

"My name, Kiritsugu Emiya," she said. "Is Cerberus."

* * *

Assassin glanced up in surprise as thunder boomed and lightning flashed overhead. Not only that, but the rumbling and flashing intensified, as something approached heralded by the thunder and carried by the lightning.

And then with a flash of blinding light and the roaring of displaced air, _something _landed in the middle of the battlefield. Lancer and Saber were forced back, and Assassin made to look away by the light. Once her eyes had recovered and she could once more view the battlefield, she blinked in surprise and incomprehension.

_What is **this**?_

There, standing on the battlefield was a chariot of ancient make, pulled by a great pair of bulls. No, more than that, _Divine Bulls_.

"_Master,_" she began. "_We have a situation here._"

"_I'm on my way._"

"_Yes, Master._"

"Both of you!" a redheaded giant of a man in archaic armor and a red cloak lined with fur thundered from the chariot. Rider, no doubt…and next to him was a…boy. Frail-looking and seeming to be more at place in the halls and galleries of scholars instead of standing on the battlefield…

…how on Earth had someone like that summoned a Servant whose Noble Phantasm was pulled by Divine Bulls?

"Lower your weapons!" Rider continued, still bellowing at the top of his voice. "The king has arrived!"

Both Lancer and Saber stared, their faces showing unmasked shock and surprise, mirrored by the expression of their Masters. Though in Lord El-Melloi's case, there was also contempt and disgust.

"I am Iskander the King of Conquerors!" Rider proclaimed, and only decades of experience and constant training kept Assassin from losing her composure in uncomprehending shock. But there was no denying it: Rider had just admitted his true identity to all present, and to those watching from elsewhere.

Assuming it was true, of course. A Servant's true identity was a very dangerous thing to be exposed, as it allowed enemies to know the weaknesses they had held in life and retained…beyond life.

"_Alternatively,_" Cerberus countered. "_It doesn't really matter. After all, knowing that you're up against the man who conquered the known world as it was in his day and age within the span of what, ten years, would make any Master or Servant take pause._"

That…was a valid argument, and Assassin narrowed her eyes behind her mask at the King of Conquerors. It was deviousness unexpected from such an oafish-looking man…but if it was true, then appearances were very much deceiving when it came to him. As her Master had said, he had been one to conquer the known world within his short reign.

It was truly food for thought.

Meanwhile, Rider was continuing his proclamations, his Master struggling to reign him in to no avail. "Fate has brought us together to fight for the Grail," Rider said. "But first, I would ask you all a question. What say you to yielding the Grail to me, and joining my army? Should you choose to do so, then I would regard you as friends, and share with you the blessing of the Grail as we conquer the world!"

_What?_

_What?_

* * *

It wasn't only Assassin and her Master who were struck and staggered by Rider's…proposition. Lancer and Saber alike were struck silent, before loudly rejecting Rider's offer. "I'm willing to negotiate…" Rider uncomfortably began, only to be interrupted.

"DENIED!" Lancer and Saber in unison, the latter carrying on immediately afterwards. "Furthermore, I myself am a king. One to whom falls the burden of the wellbeing of the Kingdom of Britain. No matter how great a king you yourself may be, I cannot lower myself to the rank of a mere subject."

"The King of Britain, you say?" Rider said with an equally surprised and impressed tone. "Well, this is a surprise! Who could have expected the famed King of Knights to be such a fair woman?"

Saber grinned at the question, gripping and raising her sword two-handed before her. "Perhaps you might wish to test the blade of this fair woman, King of Conquerors?" she challenged, and Rider sighed.

"I hate it when negotiations fail." He grumbled while scratching his head. Beside him, Waver Velvet shook with fear and apprehension as he took in Saber and Lancer's belligerent facades, and barely managed to keep from pissing himself.

"Rider," he wailed. "What have you done?"

Before Rider could answer though, cold, mocking laughter echoed in the night. It was a voice Waver recognized all too well, causing him to crumple and cower on the chariot's floor as it spoke.

"I had wondered who would have the nerve to steal my catalyst." Lord Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald began. "To think it was actually you, Waver Velvet. Shall I teach you then, the true pain and terror that comes with a battle to the death between magi?"

Waver shook with fear and terror, closing his eyes in a desperate effort to keep back the tears threatening to fall…

…and then he felt a warm and heavy hand fall comfortingly on his shoulder, the young man opening his eyes to turn and look at his Servant. Rider smiled reassuringly at him, almost like a lion comforting a cub, and then Rider turned to look at the sky with a regal expression on his face.

"Hey you," he said with a mocking yet noble tone. "Lord El-Melon or whatever you call yourself! You claim you would have sought to summon me as your Servant? Don't make me laugh! Only one with the courage to stand beside me on the battlefield could ever hope to be my Master! A coward like you who cowers in the shadows without showing his face would never be worthy to summon me!"

There was a sound of humiliation and anger in the darkness, followed by surprise as golden light began to shine onto the battlefield. Countless motes of them shone and swirled together, and then coalesced into a gold-armored figure standing atop a nearby lamppost.

"Mongrels and pretenders," Archer sneered. "You should consider yourselves honored, that I would lower myself to be witnessed by the likes of you all."

"Strong words," Rider remarked. "Yet if you truly are a king, there should be no need for you to hide behind the title of your class, is there?"

"Pretender," Archer snapped. "There should be no need for me to give my name. Indeed, as the one true king it is only meet that I am to be recognized on sight alone."

"Interesting…" Rider began, only to trail off as something – or rather _someone _– shimmered into existence on the opposite side of the battlefield from Archer. An armored…man? Woman…it didn't matter, as they approached Archer.

"Assassin?" Saber asked.

"No…that's not a Servant." Irisviel von Einzbern countered.

"Indeed I am not." The woman said as she unsealed her helmet with a hiss of escaping air, and pulled it off to reveal the beautiful face of a woman with a fine mix of Oriental and European features. Her dark hair was cut short, and her blue eyes shone with supernatural light.

"This is…!" Archer hissed in surprise before smiling with amused approval.

The woman stopped midway across the battlefield, and bowed respectfully. "I had not expected to receive this chance to fulfil the task given to me before I…departed, my home." She said. "I am Cerberus, and I come seeking an audience."

Archer burst out laughing. "Indeed…!" he said. "Very well…for the sheer value that your very being possesses, I will suffer your self-granted title. And you shall have your audience: speak swiftly!"

In response, Cerberus reached into her harness, and pulled out a large gemstone surrounded by a pair of rings crafted from gold, and encrusted with more gems. The gems came to life, and then the rings began to spin counter to each other. The whole construct floated into the air, and then approached Archer.

It hung in the air for several long moments, and just as Archer's eyes narrowed with impatience, a figure shimmered around the mystic code. It was that of a blonde-haired, red-eyed man, dressed in loose fitting clothes of white belted at the waist.

"This is…!" Archer said with a smile as his reflection looked up at him, and he knew this was no deception. With the slightest tensing of his body, he jumped down, level to his reflection.

"King of Heroes," Gilgamesh began.

"How is this possible?" Archer asked with a small tilt of his head.

"A gateway of sorts, one which leads from one world to countless others, and back again." Gilgamesh replied, before smiling mockingly into the sky. "And one that exists beneath the ignorant nose of the pathetic fool who amusingly enough, succeeded in returning us to our garden."

Archer burst out laughing. "Indeed, indeed!" he said, clapping his hands. "What a jest it is, for I see what you mean!"

"No doubt he watches even as we speak here and now." Gilgamesh continued while pacing. "So be it, let him watch for all the good it will do him. Perhaps he might even learn something of value from it."

Archer snorted. "An optimistic," he remarked. "But vain premise."

"Indeed," Gilgamesh said with a smile. "But, he has returned us to our garden. Some leeway is due."

"Perhaps…" Archer said with a tilt of his head. "So, what is it you wish to speak to me of?"

"It is not necessary for us to speak of things to understand what truly matters, does it?" Gilgamesh asked with a knowing smile. "Nor is it meet for such matters to be spoken of within earshot of mongrels and pretenders, or even one of the rare treasures this garden of ours, in this twilit age, was able to produce."

"It is as you say." Archer agreed, though his expression quickly turned stern. "Though you surprise me, that you be so…lenient, with regard to what must be done. Weeds have overgrown our garden, the waters have fallen stagnant and foul, and what was once pristine marble and polished gold have become covered with grime and tarnish. Such is not meet, and measures must be taken to address them."

"Indeed," Gilgamesh also agreed. "But not if we run the risk of losing such treasures as are hidden amidst the weeds and overgrowth. Their only place is in our royal treasury, or by our side, or in our hands. Nowhere else."

Archer nodded slowly. "You make a valid point," he said. "And your argument is grand, just like us. I shall take it under consideration."

"But of course," Gilgamesh said with a nod and a smile. "In the end, the king and the king alone can pass judgment as he deems meet."

"Indeed."

Gilgamesh then turned away from the thoughtful-looking Archer, and towards Cerberus who bowed before him. "You have performed the task I asked of you, _Cerberus_." He said. "Return from your journey alive and hale, and you shall have your just reward."

Cerberus bowed again, and the image of the King of Heroes vanished, the mystic code returning to her hand. Meanwhile, Archer began to laugh, softly at first, and then without restraint. "What wonder!" he said, smiling wide and holding out his arms. "Indeed…though the king's garden requires thorough cleansing and tending, it would not be meet to lose such treasures such are hidden amidst the refuse and the overgrowth. Such would be most unjust! And I cannot countenance such!"

Lancer and Saber looked troubled, while Rider whistled. "So," he said. "You are the King of Heroes of Ancient Uruk, Gilgamesh!"

"Indeed I am." Archer said proudly. "I am Gilgamesh, King of Heroes, Master of Mankind, Lord of the World and All its Treasures. Know that mine is the first legend, and the greatest, against which all others are naught but hollow echoes."

"That's a bit much, isn't it?" Rider asked with a raised eyebrow, and Archer scoffed and then sneered at him.

"It is nothing less than the truth, you oaf…"

Archer trailed off, his expression turning insulted and contemptuous as he looked up at the sky. "Tokiomi," he said. "You would dare command the king to depart against his will? You have nerve!"

Looking back down, he narrowed his eyes at those present, though he gave an amused smile in Cerberus' direction. And much like when he appeared, Archer disappeared in a swirl of golden light.

"Well…that was a thing." Cerberus said, replacing her helmet.

"Cerberus, is it?" Rider asked. "Interesting…very interesting…I'm sure you'd prefer to avoid exposing your identity here and now…but, you've given a lot of food for thought."

"I guess I did…!" Cerberus began only to break off as a figure jumped out of the shadows and attacked her. She briefly had the chance to take her enemy in, and behind her helmet Cerberus' eyes widened in surprise at the sight. It was a redheaded woman dressed in a bridal gown, but with a golden horn growing from her forehead. She carried a large and heavy mace, its head crackling with lightning, and she swung it down towards Cerberus.

* * *

_This is going to hurt._

That was the thought going through Cerberus' head as she switched her palm-mounted mystic code to maximum absorption, and she raised it just in time to generate a barrier to block the new Servant's attack. The blow connected, lightning exploding around the barrier and Cerberus crying out in pain as even her Second Magic-derived mysteries were pushed to the very limit.

_What else did I expect? It's a fucking **Noble Phantasm**!_

Concrete broke as the impact forced Cerberus to one knee, and she tasted iron in her mouth and smelled iron in her nose as she coughed out blood. Theoretically-speaking, her palm-mounted mystic code could absorb just about anything and disperse it across the space-time continuum, but while there was no theoretical upper or lower limit, in reality, the amount that could be absorbed and dispersed was limited per unit of time.

Berserker – who else could it be – raised her mace to strike again…

…and then she was dodging away as Lancer threw Gae Buidhe like a javelin in her direction. "Coward!" he shouted. "You would attack a messenger who had come in peace and without a drawn weapon? As a knight, it cannot be forgiven!"

"Hey boy." Rider said as they watched Saber and Lancer engage Berserker, while Cerberus staggered away, pulling off her helmet to expose her bloody face. "What can you tell me about Berserker?"

"…from the look of things," Waver said. "She's a pretty average Servant…normally."

"I see." Rider said thoughtfully, as Cerberus retreated back into the shadows. "Mad Enhancement's the only reason then that she can take on Saber and Lancer at the same time?"

"It seems that way." Waver agreed. "And that is the whole purpose behind the Berserker Class, otherwise average Servants being empowered to levels far surpassing their normal ones at the expense of their sense of reason."

"True," Rider said with a nod. "But it's not really something I can condone. Reason for power…is not a good trade at all."

"Y-yes…"

"Lancer," Kayneth began, causing all present to start. "What are you doing? Stop wasting your efforts with that madwoman, and instead while she keeps Saber busy, find Cerberus and bring her to me!"

* * *

A/N

Didn't see that coming, did you?

It wasn't a recording by the way. It was real-time link via Second Magic-derived conduits to established communications channels with ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶I̶l̶l̶u̶s̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶M̶a̶n̶ Gilgamesh at ̶C̶r̶o̶n̶u̶s̶ ̶S̶t̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ his palace somewhere in the world, or rather in Cerberus' timeline.


	3. Part III

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part III

"My lord, what…?"

"Did you not hear me, Lancer?" Kayneth repeated, a note of anger filling his voice. "I command you to bring Cerberus to me. So stop dithering about, and do it now!"

"But, my lord," Lancer protested. "The one called Cerberus came forth with neither drawn blade nor raised arms, and indeed, bared her head in peace to deliver a message. By all rights, she has invoked the truce of parley. By ancient law and custom, those who invoked parley are granted leave to come and go freely, so long as they do so in peace. To go against such…I beg you, my lord! Do not do this!"

"…by the power of my command spell…"

"That's enough, Master of Lancer." Rider interrupted, his rumbling voice filled with underlying menace. At the same time, lightning began to crackle and arc back and forth from his chariot's wheels to the ground. "I will not allow you to stain Lancer's honor by forcing him to break truce. I grant you this: retreat in peace, or I will do what I must, crushing Lancer and with it your chances to win the Grail. Choose swiftly!"

There was a moment of silence, at least between them. Nearby, Saber and Berserker continued to fight, lightning blazing bright and arcing out from Berserker's Noble Phantasm, tearing up their surroundings as she crossed blades with the King of Knights. And then there was a sound of disgust in the night.

"Retreat, Lancer!"

Lancer closed his eyes and breathed out heavily before giving a curt bow to Rider. "My thanks," he said. "King of Conquerors."

"What?" Rider said with a laugh, his previous joviality returning. "I just wanted to keep the flowers of the battlefield from being crushed in such an unseemly way, that's all."

Lancer smiled and chuckled, and then vanished into astral form. "You alright there, little lady?" Rider asked, turning back to Saber and Berserker.

"…I am." Cerberus answered, jumping out from the shadows. She still hadn't replaced her helmet, and her chin was streaked with blood. "I had it covered."

"Really now?"

Cerberus smiled but did not elaborate. And then just as abruptly as she came, Berserker disengaged, jumping back from Saber and holding her mace protectively before her. She stared at Saber for a few more moments, and then with an unhappy grunt, faded into astral form.

"Seems like Berserker's Master has decided to disengage as well." Rider observed.

"He had incentive." Cerberus said, wiping at her chin. "I have a Servant of my own, after all."

"Caster or Assassin?" Rider asked, and Cerberus smiled wider.

"Nice try…" she said. "But I think I shall keep it secret for now."

"Hmm…in any case, how about it, Cerberus?" Rider asked. "Would you care to join my army? From the sound of things, you've got quite the tale to tell, between that little exchange earlier and that title of yours. Cerberus…the guardian of the underworld…or perhaps, are you already sworn to Archer?"

Cerberus shrugged. "I do have a tale to tell." She said with a small smile. "Lots of them, and very interesting too. Tohsaka and El-Melloi are obviously very interested, otherwise they wouldn't have sent their Servants to take me into their custody."

"Tohsaka?" Waver asked.

"Isn't Archer Tohsaka's Servant?" Irisviel asked. "He did mention the name 'Tokiomi', after all, and if I remember right, that's Tohsaka's first name."

"Unless Berserker is allied with Tohsaka, of course." Rider said.

"She is." Cerberus said, briefly closing her eyes while replacing her helmet. "Or rather her Master is. After all, Kirei Kotomine is Tokiomi Tohsaka's apprentice. Surprising, isn't it?"

There were gasps and exclamations of surprise all around, and Rider raised an eyebrow. "You know a surprising amount of things." He observed.

"I do." Cerberus admitted. "Maybe one day I can tell you all about them. As to your earlier question though, no, I'm not sworn to Archer, even back home. I just do odd jobs for him every now and then."

"Being a mercenary doesn't seem to suit a pretty woman like you." Rider said lightly. "But if that's your chosen path…"

"Hmm…maybe…" Cerberus said, before beginning to walk away. "See you around, Rider, Saber, Einzbern, and Lord Waver El-Melloi II."

"…what?" Waver squeaked out, but Cerberus just laughed before shimmering into invisibility.

"Huh…I didn't know you were related to that guy." Rider mused. "Talk about difficult relatives."

"But I'm not!"

* * *

"Don't be so hard on Lancer, Kayneth." Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri chided, walking into their shared suite's living room. "He is a knight, and he thinks and acts like a knight. And yes, questioning their lord is also part of their duty, especially when it appears their lord is about to make a mistake, if only to be certain their lord knows and understands the risks they are about to run."

"Are you saying attempting to apprehend Cerberus was a mistake?" Kayneth snapped.

"Then and there?" Sola-Ui asked. "Yes, of course it was. I too was watching, albeit via a familiar and not in person. I understand what Cerberus' actions implied, in particular that…message."

"It was no recording." Kayneth darkly remarked, sitting back in his armchair. "I could sense an active connection going…somewhere else. That was a real-time communication, and with Archer's…mirror image?"

"Taking events at face value, it would seem that Cerberus has access to the Second Magic, or at least elements of it." Sola-Ui said. "Do you see now why it was foolish to apprehend her without preparation beforehand? True Magic is not something to face lightly. Do not forget: she managed to block a direct hit from Berserker's Noble Phantasm."

"For which she paid dearly." Kayneth countered. "A second blow would have broken her defense, and even without that, she is weakened enough that Lancer could have defeated and brought her into our custody."

"True," Sola-Ui conceded. "And the Noble Phantasm's name and thus its true power, was admittedly not invoked. But…what if she had invoked True Magic had Lancer moved to apprehend her? There's no evidence to suggest that…barrier, of hers was her only defense, or if it's even based on True Magic. If she had other defenses, and we lose Lancer, then we lose everything. All our efforts until now would be for naught, and the name of Archibald would bear the stain of being defeated so early in the war. Were you truly prepared to take such a risk, Lord El-Melloi?"

Kayneth hummed unhappily. "Yes," he finally admitted with a grudging tone. "Perhaps I was too reckless in attempting to apprehend Cerberus at the time. We need to know more about what she can do, and then we can apprehend her."

"As you say, Lord El-Melloi." Sola-Ui said. "Be patient, and you will have what you want. Victory in this contest, the Grail, recognition for such achievements, and of course, Cerberus' secrets."

"Patience is a virtue indeed."

"My lord," Lancer hesitantly began. "If I may, what exactly is the nature of Archer's mirror image? I am a knight, and not a magus. I understand magic is at work, but what kind and how is beyond me."

"Understandable," Kayneth said with a nod, his mood lightening at the opportunity to play the role of a teacher, at least for a time, if only to explain things to Lancer. "You are from before the Age of Gods ended, and as such ideas such as the difference between Thaumaturgy and True Magic would be unknown to you. Archer's mirror image said at one point that a gateway exists in this city, which leads from one world to countless others, and back again. That falls under the domain of the Second Magic, also known as the Kaleidoscope."

"The Kaleidoscope propounds the idea that there are multiple universes," Sola-Ui explained. "Each diverging from others due to different decisions, choices, events, and the like happening at various points in time, but are otherwise identical to each other."

"Something of an oversimplification," Kayneth said with another nod. "But it functions as a basic description of the Kaleidoscope. Going back to the point however, as I said earlier, it was no recording. That was a real-time communication, between Archer and his mirror image. And no Servant can be summoned more than once in the same Heaven's Feel ritual."

"Barring extreme affinity, of course." Sola-Ui added. "During the previous Heaven's Feel ritual, a pair of Edelfelt twins summoned two versions of the same Servant, due to their Sorcery Trait Ore Scales affecting the summoning ritual."

"However, Archer's Master is not an Edelfelt." Kayneth said. "Nor does he possess the Sorcery Trait, and even if he did, he lacks siblings to fulfill the requirements for that exception."

"Of course, the reflection could have been falsified but…" Sola-Ui began only to trail off.

"We would have noticed." Lancer said with a nod. "Servants would recognize other Servants, with the exception perhaps of Assassin, thanks to presence concealment. That…communication, with Archer's mirror image…it cannot be doubted. It was a fellow Servant."

"Therefore," Sola-Ui said with a nod of her own. "Archer's mirror image was without a doubt who he appeared to be. And since he could not have been summoned twice within the contest, his implicit claim to be Archer summoned in a different universe or rather timeline, and may have won the contest there considering it's implied he somehow is able to operate independently on his own, no doubt thanks to his wish being granted by the Grail, is to be taken at face value. Given Cerberus appears to be affiliated with him, she too must also be from the same world as him."

"Speaking of Assassin though," Kayneth suddenly and thoughtfully said. "While we cannot deny the image was that of Archer and was without a doubt a Servant, perhaps we are overthinking this and are falling into a trap."

"What do you mean?" Sola-Ui said, before Lancer gasped in realization.

"Could it be?" he asked. "A deception crafted by Assassin using presence concealment or some other skill or Noble Phantasm, to make themselves more…threatening, than they seem? And to manipulate Archer as well?"

"It is possible…and more probable as well." Kayneth said with flinty eyes. "True Magic is after all, virtually impossible to achieve. And the Second Magic is currently possessed by Wizard Marshal Zelretch."

"She could be an apprentice." Sola-Ui skeptically observed.

"No apprentice of the Wizard Marshal as a sorcerer has survived with their sanity intact." Kayneth said. "Apprentices as magi though…and even then, she would not possess the ability to travel between worlds. That jewel-based mystic code of hers though…"

"Alternatively," Lancer began. "Could she be plotting with Tohsaka? An ally even?"

"It is also possible." Kayneth said with another nod. "Tohsaka is among the lineages which were influenced by the Wizard Marshal at one point or another, and it would explain Archer's quick acceptance of his seeming mirror image. We could be meant to think she possesses True Magic, and that Archer and Cerberus have agendas beyond the contest, and to consider the latter as more…formidable, than she truly is."

"It's a complicated plot." Sola-Ui said. "Why go so far?"

"Likely as a decoy," Kayneth said. "We focus on Cerberus, and leave our backs open to Tohsaka and Archer."

Kayneth paused and chuckled. "A complicated plot indeed," he said. "Though like all other examples of such, too much complexity causes the whole affair to fall apart when looked into seriously. The simplest answer is usually the correct one after all…between possession of True Magic against a deception woven by Assassin with Archer's complicity, which is ultimately more likely?"

"The latter of course," Sola-Ui said. "Though, I still think we should be careful, just in case. That mystic code of Cerberus, it did lead to somewhere or someone else other than her…"

Kayneth waved her off. "No doubt," he said. "It would have led to Tohsaka."

"Perhaps…but then there is Archer's true identity to still be wary of."

"True," Kayneth conceded. "Gilgamesh…the King of Heroes of Ancient Uruk…Tohsaka might be an upstart greenhorn of a lineage, but they've certainly chosen a first-class Servant. Even the Greek legend of Heracles was ultimately rooted in that of Gilgamesh of Uruk."

Kayneth paused to look at Sola-Ui. "Now that we know his identity," he said. "Perhaps we might find clues into what Noble Phantasms he might possess, as well as any weaknesses?"

"The legend of Gilgamesh is fairly obscure," Sola-Ui thoughtfully said. "Partly because of how old it is, and because the Sumerians weren't as…enduring, as the Egyptians and other ancient cultures were. I'll have to look into the details of the Epic of Gilgamesh to see what he might possess, as well as any weaknesses."

"Do so." Kayneth said with a nod.

Sola-Ui looked miffed at being ordered around. "Unfortunately," she said. "There is one thing I remember that could have guaranteed his defeat, which we do not possess."

"And that is?"

"The only man to have ever defeat the King of Heroes in his legend." Sola-Ui said, making to leave. "His best friend, Enkidu. Had we known Gilgamesh would have been summoned in this war, we should have summoned him."

"…I see."

"In any case," Sola-Ui continued. "I will see what else I can find."

Kayneth nodded, and Sola-Ui walked off. "Don't worry, Lancer." He said after a moment. "I am not dissatisfied with you. Just making an observation, with regard to Archer's – potential – weaknesses. Your performance against Saber was without question."

"I am honored by your praise, my lord."

* * *

"Are you alright, Kirei?"

"I will survive, master." Kirei Kotomine said.

Tokiomi nodded, and turned to look with narrowed eyes at the sealed container holding Kirei's severed arm. Already, the flesh was visibly rotting, the sheer virulence of the poisons coating Assassin's blade simply overwhelming. If not for quick thinking on Kirei's part, severing his arm after Assassin carved a gash into his forearm, Tokiomi would have untimely lost his apprentice.

"As should be expected from Hassan-i Sabbah." Tokiomi murmured, before turning back to Kirei. "What can you tell me of Assassin?"

"As per the class' characteristics," Kirei began. "She appears to be one of the many incarnations of the legendary Hassan-i Sabbah. In our case, a lithe young woman in dark clothes and a silver half-mask, wielding poisoned daggers. Very fast, and very good in close combat. Quite a match for my skills."

"Again," Tokiomi said with a nod. "How very fitting and expected of the Old Man of the Mountain."

"Those poisoned daggers of her could also be thrown." Kirei said. "That was how she attacked me. Volley after volley of poisoned daggers to keep me from taking the initiative, until she could close and engage in hand-to-hand."

"And how did it go?" Tokiomi asked.

"I made a mistake." Kirei said with a sigh. "A single slip, and her dagger cut me across the arm. In an instant, I felt my hand and forearm go numb, and my upper arm start to do so. I did what I must, cutting off my arm and ordering Berserker to retreat and cover my escape. Assassin retreated upon hearing the latter command."

"I see." Tokiomi said with a nod. "Prudent of her."

"Pragmatic, I would say." Kirei remarked. "As should be expected of an assassin."

"Indeed."

Tokioki patted Kirei on a good shoulder. "Rest for now, my friend." He said. "It doesn't seem as though any poison has spread through your body, but losing an arm, as well as plenty of blood while retreating, will take its toll. Regain your strength, and in the meantime, I shall see to it that a replacement arm is provided for you."

"Yes, master. And thank you."

* * *

"There is one other thing concerning me." Sola-Ui observed while perusing her material with regard to the Epic of Gilgamesh.

"And that is?" Kayneth asked from nearby, performing checks on the magical defenses of their atelier atop the Fuyuki Grand Hyatt Hotel.

"After you departed," Sola-Ui began. "Our familiars continued to observe the battle. Before she departed, Cerberus addressed Waver Velvet as Lord El-Melloi II."

"…WHAT?" Kayneth exploded.

"If she is from an alternate timeline…"

"We'd already dismissed that possibility, did we not?" Kayneth interrupted, still seething.

Sola-Ui looked at him skeptically. "Then why would she drop such a title, and on that boy of all people?" she asked.

"No doubt to get under my skin." Kayneth hissed, beginning to pace. "I would not dismiss the idea that Tohsaka has spies in the Clock Tower, and who might have informed him of past…disagreements, between myself and Waver Velvet. They're probably taking advantage of that."

"If that's their goal, then they've certainly succeeded." Sola-Ui said, returning to her materials with a roll of her eyes.

Kayneth hissed, and then visibly reigned himself in with some effort. "Not anymore." He growled.

"The boy does have some talent, Kayneth." Sola-Ui said, masking her smile by simply not looking at him. "He just needs to be shaken out of his foolish and baseless notions, and ground himself in reality, the way the Valueletas and their followers do. He'd do well as a mid-ranked Clock Tower functionary or administrator."

"The Valueletas…" Kayneth said with a note of distaste. "A worthy family with a respectable lineage…if not for their adherence to such…disappointing, philosophies."

"Regardless of what you think of their philosophies," Sola-Ui continued. "And there's no question the boy's thesis was complete garbage, but it was well-written."

Sola-Ui paused, and then burst out laughing. "Yes, well-written garbage indeed." She said with a cough. "As I said, properly-educated, he'd do well as a mid-ranking functionary or administrator. And you can't deny he did succeed in slipping into your workshop undetected, stole your catalyst, _and _succeeded in summoning a Servant. He might of moderate potential, but he's hardly untalented."

"…perhaps…" Kayneth said with a glare at Sola-Ui's back. "I shall take your words into consideration. In any case, as I have already told him, I fully intend to educate Waver Velvet into what it truly means to be involved in a battle to the death between magi. Should he show promise, then perhaps I _might _be inclined to give him a chance."

"I see."

Kayneth said nothing more, instead simply stalking away muttering about the presumptuousness of someone as low and mediocre as Waver Velvet ever becoming Lord El-Melloi II. Sola-Ui contemptuously sneered, and focused once more on her research.

* * *

"I am concerned, Your Majesty."

"Your concerns are of little import." Archer scoffed, reclining on Tokiomi's couch with a cup of wine in one hand.

"Pardon me for speaking out of turn," Tokiomi began. "But my objective in this war is to ensure Your Majesty obtaining what is rightfully yours: The Holy Grail. And exposure of your identity may prove detrimental to such."

"Indeed, you speak out of turn." Archer said with cool disdain. "And you presume much, to think my identity being revealed to the world would be of detriment to me. Do you not know to whom you speak, Tokiomi?"

"You are Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes."

"Indeed I am." Archer said with a smile. "I am Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, Master of Mankind, Lord of the World and all its treasures. It was I who felled the trees of the Cedar Forest, who slew of the giant Humbaba and Bull of Heaven alike, who walked the wilderness and climbed the mountains, charting paths for my people to follow. I traversed the world from one end to the other, in pursuit of immortality."

Archer paused, and then chuckling, glared at Tokiomi. "Tell me, Tokiomi." He said. "Do you truly think any of those pretenders and mongrels would truly pose a challenge to me?"

"I would not presume to go so far." Tokiomi said with a deep bow of apology. "But it would make things difficult going forward…"

"I care little for difficulty." Archer said with a scoff. "Indeed, I accept them, the better to demonstrate the power and grandeur of the one true king!"

"I see." Tokiomi said with another bow. "If so, then I apologize for my…needless, worries."

"So you do." Archer said with another scoff.

For a while Master and Servant were silent, and then Archer's crimson eyes turned back to Tokiomi. "Was there something else?" he asked.

"Your pardon." Tokiomi said with another bow. "It concerns the one who calls herself Cerberus…"

Tokiomi broke off as Archer burst out laughing. "Now there's a worthy topic of conversation." He said. "Though a bit much for your station…suffice to say that she is infinitely more interesting than you are."

"I…see…" Tokiomi uncertainly said. "And your…reflection?

"The king's matters do not concern you," Archer said coldly. "Especially not when it comes to matters of judgment."

"Your pardon." Tokiomi said with a bow. Archer made a dismissive gesture, and with another bow Tokiomi left, his face troubled.

* * *

"How is she?"

"I've set her bones and repaired the torn muscle." Irisviel answered. "Though I suggest she rest and get some sleep tonight. I would also prefer she rest the whole day and night tomorrow, but since we _are _in a war, she can just rest during the day tomorrow, and then join you on the field in the evening."

"I see." Kiritsugu said with a nod. "That's good to hear."

Irisviel nodded back, and then tilted her head. "Is something the matter?" she asked.

"No, it's nothing." Kiritsugu said with a shake of his head.

_When you save someone's life, it means not saving someone else's._

"_Where did she hear that from?_" Kiritsugu thought. "_And when and from who? How could she have known saying them would cause such a reaction from me? Just who is this 'Cerberus'? And where did she come from? Not to mention that stunt she pulled with Archer…_"

Kiritsugu's thoughts broke off as he felt Irisviel's warm hands on his face. "Something's bothering you, isn't there?" she asked. "I can tell."

Kiritsugu stared at his wife, and then he sighed. Raising a hand, he placed it on hers. "Just…thinking, about everything that's happened tonight." He said. "Not just mine and Maiya's encounter with that Cerberus woman, but yours as well."

"Do you really think we can take everything about her at face value?" Irisviel asked. "If we do, it's…worrying, considering what it bodes."

"A woman from an alternate timeline," Kiritsugu murmured. "Wherein Archer appears to operate independently, implying he – and by extension Tohsaka – won the war in that timeline."

Kiritsugu's face fell at the thought of failure, of how he wouldn't succeed in using the Grail to bring lasting peace to the world. No…worse than that, should he fail in winning this war, then his daughter…Illya…

"It'll be alright." Irisviel said, her thoughts apparently the same as his. She embraced her husband, pressing her head against him, as Kiritsugu embraced her back. "It's all from a different life, a different world…what happened there need not happen here."

"Yes," Kiritsugu said while taking a deep breath. "That's right. We'll win this war, bring peace to the world, and live a happy life with our daughter."

It was a lie, a very happy lie, at least in part. Because they both knew, no matter which way the war went, Irisviel would never live past it. Such was her fate, as the vessel for the Holy Grail.

"And of course," Kiritsugu continued. "This assumes we take her at face value. Most likely, that message or whatnot is a deception woven by Assassin or Caster, and Archer was just playing along. If so, then Cerberus is probably allied with Tohsaka."

"Isn't that a problem though?" Irisviel asked. "If that's the case, then Tohsaka has Berserker and either Assassin or Caster backing Archer up, along with two specialists capable of taking you on: Kirei Kotomine, and Cerberus."

"It's a problem, alright." Kiritsugu said with a sigh. "I'll have to think of a way to neutralize them. Ironically, the easiest among them would probably be Tohsaka, who is purely a magus. Once we get him out of the Tohsaka property, we have the advantage. It'll be easy to dispose of him, and without a proper Master, the King of Heroes – assuming that really is his identity – who undoubtedly has high prana requirements, would be crippled and left easy prey for Saber."

Kiritsugu paused, and then sighed. "At least on paper." He said. "Kotomine and Cerberus will still have to be dealt with afterwards."

Irisviel smiled, and taking Kiritsugu's hand, squeezed. "It'll be alright." She said. "I have faith in you, and that you'll overcome all these challenges, no matter what."

Kiritsugu smiled, and again embracing his wife, kissed her on the forehead. "Thanks." He said. "That means a lot. Still…a lot of things exist only on paper, and have to be put into action. Starting with finding out who the hell is this Cerberus. Where did she come from? What's her past history? What can she do? And how to deal with her for good?"

Irisviel nodded. "Do your best, husband." She said.

"I will."

* * *

A/N

Well, the battle at the docks end similarly yet differently from canon (including Waver getting a bombshell from Cerberus).

As might be expected, the other Masters are skeptical of Cerberus apparently coming another timeline, and just assume it's an overly-complex deception. Understandably, of course: Archer is the exception, given he knows it's the truth, what with his Noble Phantasm Sha Naqba Imuru: The Omniscient and Omnipotent Star, allowing him to see everything including the series of events that led to the rise of the person entitled 'Cerberus' and how she came before him.


	4. Part IV

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part IV

"Did you hear that, Assassin?"

"Yes I did, Master."

Cerberus chuckled at her Servant's affirmation of her own reception of the message from the overseer. Apparently, Caster and his Master had finally pushed the overseer's patience over the limit, what with their abductions of children and adolescents, in such numbers that they were simply dominating the front page news.

Simply put, Caster and his Master were too high-profile to be put up with any longer.

"What should we do, Master?" Assassin asked.

"We will follow the predetermined plan." Cerberus replied, tapping her holographic controls and bringing up the dossier for Rin Tohsaka. "For all the theoretical talk about the so-called Butterfly Effect, our presence in this conflict has not yet truly changed anything, it seems. And here's to it won't for a little while longer."

"If things change too much and too quickly," Assassin remarked. "Then the value of your knowledge with regard to the contest's progression will drop, perhaps even to uselessness."

"I wouldn't say uselessness." Cerberus said. "The psych profiles will continue to be accurate insights into our opponents' characters, from which we can predict their probable responses against our movements. For the most part, of course. Caster's Master was never identified, and as such we have no information on that madman. However, it is as you say. As things change, the progression of the war will diverge from the usual chain of events, and render our information on the latter useless."

"If so, then we must adapt accordingly."

"Indeed," Cerberus agreed with a nod. "But hopefully not yet for a while. My plans with regard to Tokiomi Tohsaka require that his daughter put herself into harm's way, the easier for us to establish an advantageous situation before the battle even begins."

"That is the whole point of strategy." Assassin said with a nod. "To prevent a battle from being fought on equal, or worse, disadvantageous terms."

"Or simply put, to already have won even before the battle begins."

"As you say, Master."

Cerberus tapped the holographic controls, the screens shifting to show real-time images of key situations and individuals across the city. Cerberus watched and listened for several minutes, taking in the details of the other Masters' reactions to the overseer's command, and then focused on Kiritsugu Emiya.

"So," she said with a satisfied smile. "He plans to take advantage of the other Masters' preoccupation with Caster and his Master to position himself to stab them all in the back? As should be expected from the Magus Killer."

Master and Servant watched and listened as Kiritsugu discussed his plans for the evening to his partner, and then Assassin turned to Cerberus. "Should we interfere?" she asked.

"No." Cerberus said with a shake of her head. "We will simply observe, and allow Kiritsugu Emiya to eliminate Lord El-Melloi for us. It will cause trouble in the future for his children, but we're at war. Sacrifices have to be made. Besides…"

Cerberus trailed off, looking up with distant-looking eyes. "…it's not as if those experiences did not provide valuable lessons for his son." She eventually concluded.

"Master?"

Cerberus turned her head to look at Assassin. "Tell me, Assassin." She asked. "Is it possible for everyone to be granted salvation?"

"…I would first ask how is salvation to be defined." Assassin replied. "If the general definition is used, then I would say no. There are always sacrifices, for good or ill, one way or another, to achieve any end. Nothing can ever be achieved without sacrifice."

"…I once knew someone who believed that salvation could be brought to everyone."

"Then they are a fool." Assassin coldly said. "Such a thing does not exist on this Earth. Perhaps in the next life, but I would disagree with that. Not all are granted a place in paradise, so the imams preach. Or indeed, even the priests of the Christians."

"Quite…" Cerberus said with a nod. "In any case, enough about that. We will observe Kiritsugu Emiya's operations for this evening, and the future activities of Caster and his Master, as well as Tokiomi Tohsaka's heiress."

"Yes, Master."

* * *

The day passed uneventfully. Cerberus remained holed up inside Ryuudo Temple, periodically checking in on the status of the other Masters, though she spent some time with the head priest's son, Issei Ryuudo. Given her (magically-enforced) excuse for staying in the temple, it was expected that she spend some time with him, as she was supposed to be a friend of his father.

And so she did. Over the past months she'd been in the temple, she'd helped him with schoolwork, and even taught him some of her _jujutsu_. She'd taught him the basic stances, pushed him to regularly practice the _katas_, and even sparred with and discussed the spiritual and philosophical aspects of the martial art. Well, the ones suitable for a seven-year old boy anyway.

The Sun climbed up the sky to the zenith, and then down again towards the horizon. As it set, the sky shifted from the cloud-stained blue of a winter day to a dark velvet speckled with stars, while the view of the city from the temple glowed bright with the lights of a city at night.

Meals at the temple were simple but hearty, and held communally. As guests, Cerberus and Assassin ate with the monks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, seated near the leaders of the religious community. After the last of those meals, the monks retired for their evening vigil, while Cerberus and Assassin retired to their sanctum to once again observe the war's developments.

Cerberus shook her head as she and Assassin watched Caster and his Master subvert another group of children and lead them away under cover of darkness, to wherever their lair was in the undercity. "Hard to believe that deranged son of a bitch is Gilles de Rais." Cerberus remarked. "Confidante and companion to Jeanne d'Arc. How on Earth could someone like _that _have been trusted by and held in such high esteem by a saint as…pure, and noble, as Jeanne d'Arc?"

"Perhaps he was not evil at the time?" Assassin asked. "From what I know of the Maid of Orleans, both as a fellow Heroic Spirit and from what history tells us, the Maid of Orleans would never have tolerated such a madman by her side. She would have slain him on the spot, or guided him to salvation."

Cerberus looked quizzically at Assassin, who met her Master's eyes. "Darkness and light exists in all hearts, Master." She said. "Mine, yours, everyone's…perhaps, when Gilles de Rais learned of the unjust fate placed upon the Maid of Orleans by her own people, it snuffed out the light in his heart. As said injustice was never admitted and corrected for centuries after her death, the darkness in his heart bloomed, resulting in the madman we now see before us, as recorded upon the Throne of Heroes."

"…wonders will never cease." Cerberus said with a smile. "The Old Man of the Mountain is a philosopher."

Assassin smiled slightly at such praise, and bowed as Cerberus turned back to their screens. "Nevertheless," she said. "We'll have to put him down eventually, and put the children and other people he and his Master have ensnared out of their misery. It's a shame we can't do it here and now, but we're at war."

"As you say, Master."

Cerberus nodded, narrowing eyes at a screen showing the Fuyuki Grand Hyatt Hotel being evacuated in a hurry. And at another screen, which showed Kiritsugu Emiya standing in a well-located hiding spot, similarly observing the evacuation.

All observers waited in silence, until finally, about an hour later, a series of explosions went off at the hotel's base, the structure above tottering and then simply crumbling down as its foundations were reduced to rubble. "Things seemed to be going as expected, Master." Assassin observed.

"Yes…" Cerberus said, tapping on her controls. More screens came up, showing Maiya Hisau at her own hiding spot, apparently having recovered from the beating Cerberus had given her during the previous night (no doubt with the aid of magical medicine), and the one-armed Kirei Kotomine, barely-visible through the Tohsaka mansion's windows as he wandered down a corridor. "And again, well done with Kirei Kotomime."

"I am honored by your praise," Assassin said. "But I do not deserve it."

"Oh?"

"I failed to kill him, and indeed, was forced to retreat in the face of Berserker's return."

"Is that so?" Cerberus asked. "But neither are particularly your fault, as Kirei Kotomine is an Executor of the Holy Church. His body was trained and honed to fight against monsters beyond the ken of most men, and it cannot be denied you are no match for Berserker. Retreating in the face of her return is only prudent, and even necessary, to continue to perform your duty as my Servant. And Kirei Kotomine is a worthy opponent, one whose measure you have now experienced in person. An indecisive defeat can be forgiven."

Assassin silently bowed. Cerberus nodded, and then turned back to the screens. She and her Servant continued to watch, as disaster personnel and policemen scoured the ruins for what they knew was a terrorist attack, but was more than that.

Eyebrows rose as the policemen and disaster personnel uncovered a pristine sphere of mercury, followed by amused snorts as the enthralled men loaded it onto a truck and drove them away. "Again," Assassin observed. "Things are proceeding as expected."

"Indeed."

* * *

Kiritsugu rendezvoused with his wife and Servant, the latter standing guard with Maiya as Kiritsugu conferred with Irisviel. "My family's sources have sent back a preliminary report." Irisviel said. "They're still trying to look into more…obscure, places, but so far they have no information on or any organization that calls themselves 'Cerberus'. The same goes for that golden hexagon she uses as her emblem, or that particular design of armor she uses."

"Have they checked the real world?" Kiritsugu asked.

"They have." Irisviel said with a nod. "Whether it's the real world or the moonlit one, she and her equipment don't exist. That said, it's only a preliminary report. More obscure sources are being looked into, along with a more, in-depth investigation."

"I see."

"They do have one lead though."

"Oh?" Kiritsugu said, his expression and tone brightening to a degree. "That sounds promising. Let's hear it."

Irisviel smiled and teasingly patted her husband on a cheek. "They've done an analysis on Cerberus' face as we've seen when she exposed herself at the docks." She said.

"And?"

"Her facial features are…mixed, but there's recognizable traits of Edelfelt lineage there, apparently."

"Edelfelt?" Kiritsugu echoed with raised eyebrows. "Shit, those damn hyenas are involved in this too?"

"Well, they did participate in the last war, so why not this one as well?"

"…and allied with Tohsaka, too." Kiritsugu murmured. "Which is rather surprising, since if I remember correctly there's some bad blood between them left over from the previous war."

"Maybe it was patched over recently." Irisviel said. "The Edelfelt have always been known among the magi of the Clock Tower for their close family, more so than other magi. And Tokiomi Tohsaka's mother was of their lineage. It's possible that in the interests of family, an olive branch was privately extended, and accepted by one side or another."

"Maybe…" Kiritsugu conceded. "Though if they are involved in all this, it'll make things that much more difficult. I'm wary about them for a reason: they might be known for being a close family, but their label as hyenas is well-earned. When it comes to a fight, they're vicious, brutal, and even bloodthirsty."

"Have you fought against them before?" Irisviel asked.

"No," Kiritsugu said with a shake of his head, and beginning to pace. "But I've met and worked with those who have, and who've also worked with Edelfelt before."

"So…it's just hearsay."

"Like all hearsay, it could be exaggerated," Kiritsugu admitted. "But it would be rooted in fact. That other magi consider the Edelfelts' label _respectable _speaks of their ability."

"So…how do they fight?"

"Like me, actually." Kiritsugu said, while scratching his head in annoyance. "Only purely with magic."

"…will that be a problem?"

"If they have something like my trump," Kiritsugu said with a sigh. "It will be."

* * *

"Edelfelt?" Tokiomi Tohsaka echoed in surprise. "You are sure?"

"Of her facial features indicating a descent from the Edelfelt lineage?" Kirei asked. "Then yes, I am certain. Of course, whether or not she is an actual Edelfelt is another matter entirely. The black hair is atypical of their lineage, as are other of her facial features."

"…well yes." Tokiomi said thoughtfully before laughing wryly. "She could just be an Edelfelt bastard…and I know about those quite well."

Kirei said nothing, knowing all too well about what his master was referring to. Specifically, Tokiomi and his children, who his mother's family considered to be bastards, simply because they had not given their consent, either beforehand or after the fact, to her marriage with Tokiomi's father. That her crest was subsequently repurposed as part of – and indeed, formed the bulk of – the Tohsaka Crest further complicated things.

"_Child…not children…Tokiomi only has one child, at least according to the law._" Kirei corrected himself. "_In the eyes of the Lord though…_"

"Well," Tokiomi said while tapping a finger against his desk, eyes fixed on the image of his (potential) cousin as exposed by the battle at the docks during the previous night. "If she is my cousin, I find it curious why my mother's family sent a bastard instead of one of their own."

"Perhaps it is meant to be an insult?" Kirei observed. "No offense intended, master."

"None taken." Tokiomi said with a wave of his hand. "And I see what you mean. A bastard to fight a bastard…though if she is a bastard, she is well-outfitted, and trained."

"A proper branch family, then?"

"Hmm…perhaps…"

Tokiomi sighed with regret as a thought came to him. Despite all the ire they'd heaped on him and his family, Tokiomi held no real ill will to his relatives on his mother's side. He completely understood their reasoning, and his mother had made multiple efforts to reach out and reconcile, only to be rebuffed each and every time.

For his part, Tokiomi had avoided involving himself with Edelfelt affairs, thinking that his mother's failed efforts were indicative that active attempts at reconciliation were more harm than good, and space should instead be given, and time given a chance to clear the air, for old wounds to cool and heal over, before reconciliation could be done. They were still family, after all.

But if Cerberus truly was an Edelfelt, whether a bastard or more likely, from a recognized branch…

Tokiomi sighed with quiet regret. "_Maybe I should have sent Sakura to Edelfelt as a peace offering, after all._" He thought. "_It would have healed the rift between us, and prevented this development if Cerberus truly is a cousin of mine. But…_"

Tokiomi sighed again, reclining in his seat to look up at the ceiling. "_Even if she'd been accepted as one of them,_" he thought. "_That's all she would ever be: a branch member, and born of another branch at that. With Matou however…she would be matriarch of her own family, with equal opportunity as Rin to reach the Root through the Grail, or failing that, go down in history as her great rival and as one who saved the noble Matou lineage from an untimely demise. No…this is for the best indeed._"

Tokiomi nodded at Kirei. "I will consider this development in more detail." He said. "In the meantime, continue looking into her background, and in particular this lead. If she truly is my cousin from my mother's side of the family, then I must meet their challenge with pride and dignity, and in so doing, honor our shared lineage as true magi."

"Yes, my master."

Tokiomi nodded again, and with a gesture, dismissed Kirei. Kirei left with a bow, while Tokiomi resumed his thoughts on the situation. Unnoticed, a pair of red eyes viewed the whole exchange with disdain.

"_What a pitiful sight._" Archer thought in disgust, as he raised his wineglass to his lips.

* * *

"Well, I'm impressed. I think."

"Master?"

Cerberus scratched her head. "Lord El-Melloi's apparent backup…lair? Workshop?" she asked, sounding unsure. "Whatever you call it…is very…simple. I'd expected him to have setup a backup in another hotel or whatnot, but this is…unexpected."

"Perhaps that is the whole point?" Assassin asked. "Given the opulence of his previous stronghold, he must have predicted than in the event of its destruction _and _his escape, his enemies would assume his reserve stronghold would be more of the same. They would not expect him to retreat to a place like that."

"That's a good point." Cerberus mused, while stroking her chin. "Though his new lair leaves much to desired, not just in terms of comfort, but also in terms of protection beyond simply being unexpected of the man. In fact, from the look of things, it doesn't seem like he even thought it necessary to have a backup at all."

"Certainly," Assassin observed. "Beyond finding a location to retreat to, his new stronghold doesn't seem to have been prepared as well as it could have been, if at all. Limited comforts if at all, and from what I can see, defenses are lacking beyond Lancer and his Master and his Master's woman's magecraft."

"…maybe it's not so impressive after all."

"Master?"

Cerberus gave Assassin a deadpan look. "Maybe Lord El-Melloi never expected he'd have to abandon his lair at all." He said. "It's more likely he just sent a familiar to find him an out-of-the-way place to hide in after his lair got destroyed, leading to…that."

Cerberus waved in the screen's direction, and Assassin nodded slowly. "I see." She said. "Yes, that is certainly possible, if not indeed more likely. Especially once we take this lord's apparent character into consideration."

Cerberus made a sound of disgust. "Typical," she said with evident contempt. "So sure of how they can never be wrong, how they are oh so superior simply because of how inbred they are, they never once considered the possibility that they would come across someone who _could _and _would _kick their asses. _Magi_…"

Cerberus trailed off while shaking her head. "Hard to think this guy is actually Reines El-Melloi Archisorte's older brother." She said. "The resemblance aside, they are completely different people. Then again, that's probably thanks to Lord El-Melloi II's influence…those bastards back home ought to be more grateful…"

"…what should we do, Master?"

"This changes nothing." Cerberus answered. "It seems though that Lord El-Melloi is preparing to retaliate against Kiritsugu Emiya and his – from Lord El-Melloi's perspective – Einzbern employers. We will continue to observe, as per the predetermined plan."

"Yes, Master."

* * *

"Kayneth…"

"…WHAT?"

Sola-Ui narrowed her eyes. "Don't take that tone with me." She snarled, and Kayneth looked like he'd swallowed a lemon whole. After several long moments clearly spent regaining control of himself, he curtly nodded at her.

"I was planning on bringing this up after we'd defeated Einzbern and their Servant," Sola-Ui continued. "Though I certainly never expected not just our atelier but the hotel as a whole would be reduced to rubble…"

Sola-Ui trailed off, and then coughed after a few moments. "Anyway," she said. "In addition to looking into Archer's strengths and weaknesses as per his legend, I also made some inquiries with regard to who Cerberus might really be."

"…they found something after only a day?"

"My sources?" Sola-Ui asked, and Kayneth curtly nodded. "No…but from what my sources have told me, they have three possible leads to follow."

"And those are?"

"The first two admittedly offer only faint promise." Sola-Ui said. "They are Cerberus' own title, which may be a known alias somewhere in the world, or that of a shadow organization of some sort. The third though…"

"…yes?"

Sola-Ui's face fell in worry. "Kayneth," she said. "According to my sources, an analysis of her facial features as obtained during that battle at the docks seems to indicate she's of Edelfelt descent."

"Impossible…!" Kayneth hissed. "The Edelfelt are uniformly blonde! A brunette Edelfelt? Unthinkable!"

"…and what are the Edelfelt known for?"

Kayneth scoffed. "Mercenaries," he said with a sneer. "Greedy and dishonorable scum who expend effort and spill blood purely for gain, whether in coin or spoil. How they ever came to be acknowledged as magi is beyond me, to say nothing of such…regard, the Valueleta hold them in."

"Well…yes, there is that." Sola-Ui conceded with a cough. "But apart from that, what else are they known for?"

"…what else is there about them to know?"

Sola-Ui rolled her eyes. "The Edelfelt are also known for having a large family not just by magi standards, but by normal standards as well." She said. "More than that, their branches are generally at peace with each other, if not outright close, and all have crests. And before you start spouting more…condemnations, of their seeming flouting of orthodoxy, I would remind you _why _that is the case."

"…Ore Scales." Kayneth said softly, and with narrowed eyes.

"Ore Scales," Sola-Ui said with a nod. "And going back to Cerberus, and how she could be one of the hyenas of Finland…see where I'm going?"

"Yes, I suppose I do." Kayneth said while stroking his chin. "An Edelfelt…hmm…a branch member most likely, and a distant one at that…and given the overseer's earlier announcement with regard to Caster…Edelfelt's Servant would be Assassin, would it not?"

"By process of elimination, they would be."

Kayneth snorted, and then burst out laughing. "Assassin!" he laughed. "How very fitting, that such a lowly and dishonorable card would be dealt to the half-civilized savages of Finland!"

Sola-Ui's face fell as Kayneth laughed at his own disparaging remarks of the Edelfelt Clan of magi. And then unnoticed, Kayneth consumed by mirth as he was, her eyes narrowed, filling with malice matched by her expression.

_Here's to hoping that particular hyena tears your throat out._

* * *

"…well, this is an interesting development."

"Master?"

Cerberus smiled with amused thoughtfulness. "It might not be just Lord El-Melloi who picks up on my looks and where I get them from." She said. "If others do too…hmm…yes…I can work with this…plenty of opportunity…"

Cerberus nodded slowly, smile slowly growing wider. "Yes…" she said. "I can _definitely _work with this."

And then turning her head, she smiled reassuringly at Assassin. "Don't worry Assassin," she said. "You'll get your chance to get back at that stuck-up bastard for calling you 'lowly' and 'dishonorable'. Last I looked, _you _had a place on the Throne of Heroes. He does not."

"I have taken no offense." Assassin said with a bow. "Honor is something we are expected not to have."

"But you do have it, don't you?" Cerberus asked. "Naturally, as assassins when you perform your tasks and fight your enemies, you would not hesitate to do what must be done to succeed, even if you must sink to methods honorable warriors and the like would not. But in other areas, such as when you give your word, or forge a contract…"

"I suppose in that light honor is something we do possess." Assassin said with a nod. "And I am flattered that you think so highly of me, Master."

"You disagree?"

"A contract forged is a contract forged." Assassin said. "The given word is the given word. Neither is supposed to be broken, honor or not. It is just professionalism."

"…that's an interesting way to view it."

Assassin inclined her head in acknowledgement. "As for honorable warriors," she said before sneering. "What honor? When they take a town or city or go plundering after a campaign, where is their so-called honor? Is it there when they burn the homes of the innocent? When they force themselves on helpless women, girls, and young boys? When they loot and take all they can carry off, leaving naught but broken and destitute victims behind them?"

Assassin shook her head. "How honorable of them." She sneered. "How noble and admirable of them. You and I, my brothers and sisters of Alamut, we may all strike from the shadows and take life without mercy or regret, but we are more honorable than those so-called great and noble warriors. For us at least, there is our pride in bringing death and _only_ death to those we test our skills against."

Cerberus stared at Assassin, Master and Servant alike locking eyes for a long moment. And then Cerberus smiled, and nodded before turning back to the screens.

"Yes," she said. "I completely agree."

* * *

A/N

The situation continues to develop, with the other Masters now beginning to look into Cerberus' background. None of them are finding much, except that she may be of Edelfelt descent (which she actually is). And that may cause trouble for the Edelfelt in the future, not that they would really care. That family thrives on and positively relishes in trouble. As Luvia proudly says, they are 'the most elegant hyenas in the world'.

Some insights from Assassin here, and she does have a point. How exactly are the Assassins more 'evil' and 'dishonorable' than warriors who killed, raped, and pillaged without mercy, and whose legends whitewash crimes committed to achieve them?


	5. Part V

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part V

The Sun cast its light through cold and cloudy skies come the following day, and over the crowds of people bustling through the streets of Fuyuki. They shone over the pristine façade of Kotomine Church, and through the stained glass windows in a riot of color.

The church's interior was empty, though given the time of day that was unsurprising. The courtyard beyond was as well, though in the living room of the apartments beyond, a pair of priests were holding a quiet meeting between themselves. One was a well-built, clean-shaven old man with a kindly air, while the other was a tall, dour-looking young man with more than a passing resemblance to his senior. Unsurprising, given they literally were father and son.

The younger priest, however, lacked the kindly air of his father. In its place, he carried a troubled air about him, no doubt contributing to his dour appearance.

"So," Risei Kotomine thoughtfully began. "The Edelfelt may have decided to make another play for the Grail as well. Perhaps we should have expected this…though I'm surprised they sent a branch member instead of one of their own."

"It has yet to be completely confirmed," Kirei said. "But it does seem to be that way. Master Tokiomi is of the opinion that if Cerberus truly is one of his cousins from his mother's side of the family, then this is a deliberate gesture on Edelfelt's part to underline the…illegitimate, from Edelfelt eyes, descent of Tohsaka, by contrasting it with a recognized descendant of the Edelfelt Clan."

"Hmm…" Risei hummed thoughtfully. "Only if they win, of course. If their representative is defeated one way or another, then the gesture would backfire on them. If defeated by Tohsaka, then their claims of Tohsaka's lack of worth would be exposed as hollow and meaningless. If defeated not by Tohsaka, then they appear foolish, sending a branch member and thus not nearly as capable as one born of the main line."

"A gamble then," Kirei said. "A very risky gamble, one that would be meaningless unless it results in anything but a winner's roll."

"Assuming of course," Risei said. "That Cerberus is truly of the Edelfelt Clan. Her appearance could just be coincidence."

"There is that as well." Kirei said with a nod. "Master Tokiomi has considered that possibility."

"Did he say anything more?" Risei asked.

Kirei thought for a moment. "He said that if Cerberus truly was a cousin of his," he said. "Then he would face her challenge with pride and dignity, and in so doing honor their shared lineage as magi."

Risei chuckled. "How very gracious of him," he said. "I must admit that I do not always agree with Tokiomi's decisions and opinions. In this case though, I must say that for all that his mother's relatives claim to be…elegant, Tokiomi's dignified endurance of their scorn and his modest attempts to earn their respect and acceptance put him in a better position by comparison."

"I have not heard his opinions on the matter." Kirei said. "Though I imagine he would be flattered should he hear such."

Risei snorted. "In that case," he said. "Perhaps it would be best for him not to hear what I have just said of him. As I said, I do not always agree with Tokiomi's decisions and opinions, and I must say that his pride has grown quite excessively. There is no need to feed it further with praise, well-earned as it might be. His pride as it is already presents him considerable weakness to be exploited by his enemies. If we can, let us curb it as much as possible."

"As you say, father."

Risei nodded. "In any case," he said. "Our objective remains unchanged. With his goal of using the Grail to open a path to the Root and only to open such a path, Tokiomi remains the only Master we can expect to use the Grail in a responsible fashion. Continue to assist him as best you can, and ensure his victory."

"Yes, father."

Risei nodded. "On another note," he said. "Any word on a replacement arm?"

"Yes," Kirei said, glancing at the limp and empty sleeve on one side of his habit. "It should be arriving in a few days. Master Tokiomi and I will work together to implant it onto my body, and then I should be ready to rejoin the war in earnest."

"Excellent news." Risei said with a nod. "A shame about your original arm though…I know the Lord commands us not to seek vengeance and instead to forgive and forget, but as your father…"

Risei trailed off and sighed. "No," he said. "Even that is not a good reason to go against the Lord's teachings. Though Assassin and Cerberus alike must be dealt with one way or another, do not do so with revenge in your heart, my son."

"I shall keep such wisdom at heart when the times, father."

* * *

"What's wrong?"

Irisviel pointed at what seemed to be, if Kiritsugu's eyes weren't mistaken, a fruit basket. "That just arrived by mail." She said, before holding up what looked like a letter of some kind. "This came with it."

Feeling a headache beginning to build between his eyes, Kiritsugu took the offered letter and began to read.

_Dear Mister Emiya,_

_ I would like to express my respect and admiration for your actions during the previous night. While the methodology is not something I would use, that you were able to neutralize the formidable defenses of Lord Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi with only minimal effort is unquestionably commendable. More than that, you also destroyed his field workshop in the process, and in so doing, prevented Lord El-Melloi from ever being able to fight from a position of overwhelming strength, as all magi would within their workshops._

_ With that said, I would like to offer gifts to further express my respect and admiration for your person. First of course, is the fruit basket this letter comes with. Second, is information I have procured over the preceding hours. Specifically, Lord El-Melloi has survived the destruction of his workshop, and while you no doubt already know this, he is also preparing to retaliate. What you may not know, however, is that he is planning to attack you at your stronghold within the Einzbern Forest. Why he would do so considering such is the center of your power, is beyond yours truly._

_ Should you, however, know of this already, then I apologize for my presumption. To conclude this letter, I would again express my respect and admiration for your actions during the previous night._

_Sincerely, Luviagelita 'Cerberus' Edelfelt._

_P.S. I can see where Illya gets it from. She was cute, but really terrifying on the battlefield._

Kiritsugu crumpled the letter in his hands. "So…that last bit…" Irisviel shakily began, having been reading over Kiritsugu's shoulder. "Does it…does it really mean that…she's a…"

"…have you checked the fruits?" Kiritsugu asked.

"Yes, they don't appear to be poisoned in any way."

"Good," Kiritsugu said, massaging his temples. "I think I need a drink, and maybe something sweet to…to, take all this in with."

Muttering to himself, Kiritsugu stalked off, Irisviel following after him after picking up the fruit basket. "At least," she hesitantly began. "We now know her name. Luvia-something Edelfelt?"

"_Luviagelita_..." Kiritsugu absentmindedly corrected. "Strange name…why reveal it now though, after previously using an alias?"

"…to further express her…respect, and admiration?"

"…if so, then she needs help." Kiritsugu said with a sigh, coming to a halt with his head down. "I bombed a hotel, for gods' sakes. Reduced it to rubble…if I hadn't…hadn't mellowed out over the past few years, I'd have done it without letting anyone be evacuated. Hundreds of people would have been killed…and she says she respects and admires my actions? Fucking hyenas…"

Irisviel sadly but sympathetically stared at her husband, and after a moment reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently. "Kiri…" she said softly, as he reached up and squeezed her hand back.

Without further words, Kiritsugu continued on his way, followed by his wife.

* * *

"_Fervor, mei sanguis._"

The entrance to Castle von Einzbern exploded, not just the door or even the doorframe, but also part of the surrounding wall, torn apart by the sheer power of Kayneth's mystic code. As the clouds of dust began to clear, Kayneth walked through the ruins, and into the foyer. Soundlessly rolling along at his side, was said mystic code, Volumen Hydragyrum, looking for all the world like a gigantic, silver blob of mercury.

"I am the Ninth Head of the House of Archibald, Kayneth El-Melloi." Kayneth formally introduced himself. "Einzbern magi, I challenge you to a duel for both the Grail, and our lives."

There was utter silence, and then a flicker of motion drew Kayneth's attention. In one corner of the foyer, a CCTV camera swiveled to look at him, and causing Kayneth to smile with amusement. After a moment, he took a step forward, and then another, slowly but steadily making his way across the foyer.

And then the foyer was shaking again, as multiple explosions erupted all around Kayneth after he tripped a set of wires strung across the floor. Smoke and debris flew through and filled the air, along with ball bearings that tore apart everything in their way. But as the smoke and dust cleared, all there was to see amidst the ruins was a gigantic sphere of mercury. After a moment it retracted, shrinking down to its previous size, and revealing the unharmed Kayneth, his mystic code having deployed at incredible speed to surround and protect him from the explosions.

Given the expression on his face, he was far from happy.

"Traps?" he said with disdain. "I expected better of Einzbern. So be it then. This will no longer be a duel, it is now an extermination!"

Silently and unhurriedly proceeding through the foyer, Kayneth made his way to a nearby sitting room, where he extended an arm out imperiously. "_Ire Sanctio!_" he cast, Volumen Hydragyrum extending feelers of mercury in several directions. Kayneth closed his eyes to focus on what his mystic code was detecting, and then opened them before smiling as he found what he was looking for.

"_Scalp!_" he cast, Volumen Hydragyrum reforming in the blink of an eye before striking upwards with its feelers. Wood and stone exploded as Kayneth stepped onto a platform of mercury, which then lifted him upwards, through the hole in the ceiling and into another room, Kiritsugu Emiya standing before him.

"I've found you, rat." He said with sophisticated disdain.

In response, Kiritsugu just raised his gun and opened fire on full-auto.

* * *

Assassin stayed silent in her astral form, prowling through the corridors of Castle von Einzbern. At her Master's command, she had followed Kayneth and Lancer as they proceeded towards the Einzbern forest after nightfall, using presence concealment to the limit, until Kayneth had broken through the foyer, then up from the sitting room, to where Kiritsugu was.

She had not followed, lying in wait beneath, and was caught by surprise when Kiritsugu jumped down and slipped past moving too fast for the eye to follow. If not her superbly-honed instincts and senses, she might even have missed him.

"_Master, did you see that?_" she asked.

"_Yeah…I think…I did._" Cerberus replied hesitantly. "_That was…unexpected? I've heard his family used Time Alteration, but I never managed to find out the specifics as he used it. There was no record of it._"

Assassin tilted her head. "_From what I can hear,_" she said as Kayneth jumped down followed by Volumen Hydragyrum. "_It seems he somehow manipulates the flow of time within his body, using it to define a…reality marble?_"

"_Huh…so that's how he does it._" Cerberus said, her thoughts tinged with surprise. "_Clever…but also dangerous. Once the flow of time returns to normal, then relativity will take its toll as his body adjusts to the difference._"

"_I bow to your knowledge of magecraft._"

"_I'm not that good. In any case…continue to follow Lord El-Melloi, but take no action unless I command it._"

"_Yes, Master._"

Assassin followed her Master's command, proceeding invisible and undetectable behind Kayneth as he proceeded through darkened corridors, until he entered one that was lit. It was a simple but basic trick, Assassin realized. Proceeding through the former, Kayneth's eyes would adapt to the dark, but when he entered the light, his vision would suffer for it.

Unless…he was using magic to counter it?

Assassin was about to ask her Master when Kiritsugu unexpectedly called Kayneth by name to one side. At least, Kayneth didn't expect it. Assassin, in contrast, knew this was the perfect place for an ambush.

Kiritsugu again opened up on full-auto, bullets expending themselves harmlessly against Volumen Hydragyrum. And then to Assassin and Kayneth's surprise, a bullet blew through Volumen Hydragyrum, and punched through a shoulder in a spray of blood.

"_Holy shit!_" Cerberus said in surprise. "_That's the trick he tried to pull on me! Use an MP5 to make the enemy think that's all he has, and then fire a bigger bullet using another gun!_"

"_How fortunate your defenses were stronger then._" Assassin said.

"_I've nearly been killed or worse as a kid thanks to being soft._" Cerberus darkly replied, to Assassin's surprise. "_I've learned my lesson. A lesson that magi ought to learn themselves._"

"_That said,_" Assassin said. "_If they did, it'd make your job all the more difficult, Master, so it's probably a good thing they don't._"

"_True…but I at least taught my siblings right. When it comes to fighting, you either go big or you go home. Not that my older sister needed to learn that, considering even her basic attacks could level buildings._"

"_I see._" Assassin said.

"_Continue to follow and observe._" Cerberus commanded after a moment. "_I doubt if this is all Mister Emiya is capable of._"

"_Yes, Master._"

Assassin continued to follow Kayneth through the castle, explosions erupting along the way as they set off more traps. Incensed, Kayneth laid waste to the surroundings along his path to preemptively set off or simply destroy traps before he could get to them, all the while clutching at his injury and dripping blood onto the floor.

Finally, they emerged into another corridor, with windows looking out onto the forest. Kayneth turned one way, but Assassin knew otherwise, simply out of instinct. Turning her intangible head, she focused on Kiritsugu standing flat against the wall.

After a moment, Kayneth also noticed, and turned to face Kiritsugu. Assassin took a step back, widening the distance between her and the two combatants, as while nothing should be able to hurt her in astral form, it didn't hurt to be cautious.

Kayneth ranted out threats against Kiritsugu, who responded again by opening up with his MP5. This time, Volumen Hydragyrum didn't just form a single, protective layer of mercury, but a multi-layered one with greater density.

"_That should protect him against the same trick from before,_" Cerberus observed. "_And Mister Emiya has to know that. So how…?_"

Cerberus' thoughts abruptly broke off as Kiritsugu fired his Thompson, the heavier bullet being caught mid-flight by a whole layer of mercury which parted and then closed in tightly around the bullet. And then…

…Volumen Hydragyrum exploded, the high-density construction simply falling to the ground in a rain of liquid metal.

"_WHAT THE HELL?_" Cerberus' thoughts exploded in shock and disbelief, sentiments shared by Assassin herself.

They watched as Kayneth went into convulsions, clawing at himself while gasping in what was clearly agony, and then vomited blood before collapsing prone onto the amalgam of blood and mercury. Unbidden, Assassin turned to the spent bullet lying in the pool of liquid around Kayneth's body.

"_Assassin,_" Cerberus said. "_Bring that bullet back._"

"_Yes, Master._"

Assassin turned to Kiritsugu, assessing when to make her move. Kiritsugu reloaded his weapon, and then slowly approached Kayneth's body. Assassin turned back to Kayneth, and narrowed her eyes behind her mask.

"_He's still alive._" She observed. "_Should I finish him?_"

"_No, this is Mister Emiya's win._" Cerberus answered. "_He has the right to deliver the killing blow, and I doubt he won't._"

"_Yes, Master._"

And then Kiritsugu was stepping back, and opening fire on full-auto again. And again, bullets splattered away, this time in showers of sparks as Lancer blocked all of them with his spear. "_Well, that was unexpected._" Cerberus observed.

Lancer gave Kiritsugu a warning, before leaping away with his fallen Master held over a shoulder. "_I believe this is my chance._" Assassin said, as Kiritsugu rushed to a window to see.

Rushing towards the pool of liquid, Assassin shimmered back into physical form, sweeping down to grab the spent bullet as she ran past. Mercury fell in gleaming orbs from her fingers, Kiritsugu spitting out vile oaths as he realized what Assassin had done, and raised his gun to open fire.

Assassin simply danced away from his line of fire, and leaping through a broken window, landed lithely on the ground below. In a moment she was leaping into the tree line, and smiled to herself as she ran from one shadow to the next, bullets flying wide as the echoes of Kiritsugu's curses grew fainter.

"_Well done, Assassin, well done._" Cerberus congratulated her.

"_I am pleased to be of service, Master._" Assassin replied.

* * *

Nearly an hour later, and Assassin was reunited with her Master at Ryuudo Temple. Cerberus held out a hand, and Assassin raised an eyebrow. "I would remind you, Master," she said. "That my body is literally poisonous. While I can control it to prevent it from corroding or tainting objects I touch and the air I breathe, when it comes to people…"

"Oh right, I forgot about that." Cerberus said, sheepishly scratching her cheek. "Damn…you deserved a handshake and a pat on the shoulder for getting your hands on whatever it was Mister Emiya used to one-shot Lord El-Melloi. Judging from his response, it must be really something he wouldn't want people to find out."

Cerberus paused and laughed. "Can't blame him, though." She said. "Spell-casters we might be, but the same principles apply. Finding out how his mysteries work lets their weaknesses be known as well, and counters to be prepared. Wouldn't want anyone to find out about my trumps either."

"As you say, Master."

Cerberus held out a hand, and Assassin dropped the bullet into her waiting palm. Cerberus blinked, and then her eyes grew wide as she picked up the bullet and held it up, closely regarding it with her eyes. "Holy shit," she said. "This is a conceptual weapon."

Cerberus shook her head in disbelief, before slowly smiling in awe. "That magnificent son of a bitch." She said with a grin. "He used a fucking conceptual weapon to crush Lord El-Melloi's mysteries and from the look of things, Lord El-Melloi as well."

"Might I ask what a conceptual weapon is, Master?" Assassin asked.

"It's a weapon that embodies a single, specific concept, and is meant to crush any target with that concept." Cerberus said. "They're usually used against targets that can't be hurt or damaged by conventional means, like vampires or Phantasmal Beasts. They're not easy to make, or to find for that matter, and would be overkill against most targets or enemies, so they're not common at all. No one could expect the Magus Killer to have one…wait, no, they probably do, but they probably don't expect him to use it except as an absolute last resort. I get the feeling this…bullet, and others like it, are _not _a last resort."

"I see." Assassin said with a nod. "May I ask what concept that bullet embodies?"

"No idea." Cerberus replied. "I'll have to study it some more, and carefully too. Wouldn't want to get a backlash of some sort by being careless."

"Indeed." Assassin said with another nod, before tilting her head. "Would you perhaps have conceptual weapons of your own?"

In response, Cerberus reached down to her waist, to her dress' belt. She wore two, actually. The one on top was nothing special, but the one underneath it, it had small loops woven into its underside, loops Cerberus used to store _shuriken _with.

She pulled one of those out, a square dart made from iron about seven inches long, and tossed it to Assassin. "Not nearly as powerful as Mister Emiya's conceptual weapon," Cerberus admitted. "But wounds from those require magical healing to close. Without magical healing, they simply won't heal and will eventually fester and kill you."

"And the concept behind them?"

"Death."

Assassin made a gesture indicative of surprise, and with a smile Cerberus shrugged and walked off. After a moment, Assassin tossed her Master's _shuriken _about with one hand, and followed.

* * *

"We've got a problem." Kiritsugu hissed while pacing in an (unscathed) sitting room at Castle von Einzbern.

"What exactly happened?" Irisviel asked, sitting at the table with a steaming cup of tea at hand.

"Assassin infiltrated the castle, while all of us there was focused on, well, fighting each other." Kiritsugu said. "Me and Kayneth…no doubt she and behind her, Luviagelita, were watching and taking notes all the while. But that's not the problem. The problem is that Assassin was able to recover the Origin Bullet I'd shot Kayneth with. And she escaped with it."

"But that means…!"

Kiritsugu nodded, and began pacing again. "She'll probably figure out what it is soon enough," he angrily said. "And probably develop countermeasures. Damn it! That woman is throwing all my plans and calculations into chaos. In hindsight, the number one spot among our enemies shouldn't have been Kayneth, it should have been her."

"Well…you did say Edelfelts fought like you do…"

"Except I didn't know it at the time." Kiritsugu grumbled before taking a deep breath. "And they're allied with Tohsaka and Kotomine…damn it, at this rate they'll have countermeasures too. Damn it, damn it, damn it…"

Irisviel quickly got up, and embraced her husband. "Calm down," she said, holding him tight and pressing her head against him as he embraced her back. "I know things look bad, but I absolutely have faith that you'll somehow be able to find a way. You always do."

"…true enough." Kiritsugu breathed. "Thanks, Iri. And yeah, you're right. Just because she'll probably develop a defense against Origin Bullets, it doesn't mean Luviagelita or her allies are suddenly invincible. All that means is that I'll have to come up with another way to finish them."

Kiritsugu took a deep breath and backed away from Irisviel, crossing his arms in thought. "But first of all," he said. "I'll have to finish Kayneth."

"He managed to escape?" Irisviel asked in surprise.

"Lancer managed to get to his side before I could finish the job." Kiritsugu said. "I was about to use a command spell to get Saber there, but he retreated with Kayneth without attempting to engage. Nothing I could really do about that…though now that Kayneth is in no position to fight at all, we should take him off the board before focusing on Luviagelita. Take out an enemy that you can first of all, and all that."

"I must protest against this course of action." Saber said. "Certainly, Lancer is an enemy, as is his Master. But by your own words, Kayneth El-Melloi is in no way capable of continuing to fight. There is no need, to use your own words, to 'finish' him. I will defeat Lancer, and Kayneth El-Melloi will have lost the war. His life need not be taken from him."

Kiritsugu shot Saber a disdainful glance. "Defeat Lancer, you say?" he asked. "Killing his Master _is _the easiest way to do just that. And you cannot defeat Lancer. Not with your abilities crippled as they are by his Noble Phantasm."

"You dare?" Saber snarled.

"Kiri!" Irisviel protested, though she shot a pleading glance at Saber, who subsided.

"It's the truth." Kiritsugu said. "I am her Master, and I know how much her abilities are degraded by the effects of Gae Buidhe. She can't even use Excalibur anymore, not until Gae Buidhe is broken. And comparing her as she is now, Lancer has the advantage."

"Even so, I…!" Saber began, only to be interrupted by a raised hand from Kiritsugu.

"Say what you want," he said. "But don't deny the truth. And don't forget, we're all in this for the Grail. You have your wish, and I have mine. We must do what we must to achieve them. Now is not the time or place to hold back out of pointless sentimentality or ideals."

"Sentimentality, you say?" Saber snarled, and getting to her feet. "Pointless ideals? Are you insulting me?"

"Saber…!" Irisviel said, rushing to restrain the angry blonde.

"If it seems that way, then I apologize." Kiritsugu said. "But I was not. As I said, I'm just saying the facts as they are. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some things to attend to. Maiya, we need to check on some things."

"Understood." Maiya said, stepping away from the corner she was in, and following Kiritsugu out of the room. Saber ground her teeth and glared at Kiritsugu's back as he left, while Irisviel tightened her arms around Saber's shoulders to try and calm her down.

"Please," Irisviel said softly. "Don't be too mad. Kiri…he wasn't really trying to insult you. It's just that…he can quite blunt, when it comes to these kind of things."

Saber glanced unhappily at Irisviel, and taking note of her pleading expression, took a deep breath, letting it out explosively.

_Damn that man._

* * *

A/N

No, Cerberus is _not _Luvia. She was just trolling Kiritsugu, who somehow manages to fall for it, and continues to assume she's allied with Kirei and Tokiomi. Somewhere in Finland, across timelines, Luvia is probably sneezing at her cousin using her name as an alias/to troll her enemies.

Speaking of allies though, Cerberus _might _allow herself to be allies with Kirei, but Tokiomi? She'd sooner die than stand side by side with that man. And on a similar note, I never really figured out how Kiritsugu avoided getting gutted by Saber with how he treats her in canon.


	6. Part VI

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part VI

A flick of a switch turned off the scanning laser, and the flicking of another switch opened the scanning chamber. Cerberus reached in, and took out the spent .223 Remington. Raising it into the air, she peered at it closely using a hand lens.

"Well," she began. "This is an interesting specimen. My analysis says that it was apparently made with alchemy. Looks like Mister Emiya or whoever provided this for him condensed the concept from a sample of…something, I haven't been able to figure out yet, and then transmuted it into something that would appear to ordinary people as nothing more than a .223 Remington round."

"What is the concept the weapon embodies?" Assassin asked.

"Severing and Binding…strange concepts, and unusually for a conceptual weapon, two, and not just a single concept is embodied." Cerberus answered, before scratching at her head. She then placed the bullet inside a specimen container and sealed it. "Though it does explain what happened to Lord El-Melloi, and Mister Emiya's methodology."

"Master?"

Cerberus smiled at her. "You might remember how Mister Emiya shot Lord El-Melloi through his mystic code with a heavy round." She said. "And in the process, injured Lord El-Melloi. Both breaking through his defense and injuring the man provoked Lord El-Melloi into going all-out, using all his available magic circuits to push his magical defenses to maximum. In short, Mister Emiya used Lord El-Melloi's pride against him."

Assassin nodded thoughtfully. "That much was evident." She said. "But how did Mister Emiya fully take advantage of it?"

Cerberus smiled wider, and glanced at the container with the bullet inside. "Simple," she said. "He shot Lord El-Melloi with this conceptual weapon when the man was using all his magic circuits to maximize the power of his mystic code. And that same mystic code allowed the conceptual weapon to affect the magic circuits powering it."

Assassin blinked, and then narrowed her eyes in realization. "I see." She said. "The concept…severing and binding, were they? They crushed his magic circuits."

"Precisely," Cerberus nodded. "But the really insidious part about this are the concepts involved. 'Severing' would have shredded Lord El-Melloi's magic circuits…and 'binding' would have taken the resulting ruins and fused them into an incoherent mass. It would be like taking a fine gold mesh and then melting it down before cooling it as a shapeless blob."

Cerberus snorted, and then laughed before shaking her head. "I'm honestly surprised Lord El-Melloi survived the experience." She said. "Our magic circuits are tied to our nervous systems. Such damage inflicted on them would cause similar effects on his nervous system. Though, I wonder if survival is a word that can be used here. The degree of damage…he might very well be brain-dead, or if not that, suffering from permanent paralysis at least, and various other nervous ailments."

Cerberus snorted again and shook her head before narrowing her eyes. "How very brutal," she said. "And how very…hurtful, against a magus. Especially someone like Lord El-Melloi…I know his type. They see people's worth only as a result of their ability to use magic, and base their own characters, their whole being on their own oh-so miraculous ability to perform magic. To lose it…how very…painful…"

Cerberus smiled, and nodded. "Mister Emiya," she said with an awed tone. "You are truly worthy of my respect."

Assassin said nothing, and after a moment Cerberus looked at her wristwatch. "Oh wow, look at the time." She said. "It's almost morning, and I haven't gotten any sleep yet. Looks like I'm just going to have to sleep-in this morning."

"Then I shall inform our hosts that you were…indisposed, during the previous night," Assassin said. "Dealing with business matters and regretfully cannot attend morning meals with them."

"Do that, and thank you."

Assassin bowed, while Cerberus activated her omni-tool. "Hmm…" she hummed while tapping at the glowing, holographic gauntlet over her left forearm and hand. "Interesting…while I was trying to figure out how Mister Emiya's conceptual weapon worked, it seems that there's been some developments over at Lord El-Melloi's place."

"Perhaps he has died?" Assassin asked.

"Let's have a look, shall we?" Cerberus said, projecting recent events as recorded in her familiar's memories through her omni-tool as a hologram between herself and Assassin.

_"Lady Sola," Lancer asked as he walked up to where she was looking up at the Moon. "How is my lord's condition?"_

_"I'm not certain to be honest." Sola-Ui replied, and then she noticed Lancer's downcast expression. "Don't be so hard on yourself! It wasn't your fault that he got himself hurt so badly fighting Saber's Master."_

_"No, but…"_

_"Diarmuid," Sola-Ui began, while turning to and walking towards him. "He is unworthy to be your Master."_

_Lancer's eyes widened, surprise showing on his face before turning to sickened horror and realization. "He has abandoned the contest." Sola-Ui purred, while pulling up her sleeve to display command spells now engraved onto her forearm. "I am your Master now."_

"…it seems that Lancer has a new Master." Assassin observed.

"So it would seem, Assassin." Cerberus agreed. "But, it seems there's more to this. And considering what we know of Lancer, no, _Diarmuid Ua Duibhne_, I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach what it is."

"_I have already pledged myself to Lord Kayneth." Lancer said with a sigh. "On my honor as a knight, I cannot acknowledge you as my Master."_

_"But why?" Sola angrily demanded. "Have you not been sustained all this time by my prana?"_

Cerberus raised an eyebrow at that. "_Isn't…wasn't Lord El-Melloi Lancer's Master?_" she silently asked herself while making a note on her omni-tool. "_If so, what's this about Miss Sola-Ui sustaining him with her prana? Hmm…something to look into later._"

_"I am already sworn to one lord!" Lancer said._

_"Are you saying that I'm unworthy to be your Master?"_

_"That's not what I…"_

_"Look at me!" Sola screamed, her eyes tearing at Lancer refusing to look at her. "Lancer…please…win the Holy Grail by my side. Protect me…"_

Assassin and Cerberus alike wore deadpan expressions on their faces, as their worst suspicions were confirmed. "…this has all the taste of a second-rate drama." Assassin finally said.

Cerberus made a sound indicative of disgust. "Yeah, no kidding." She said. "I love my mother, but this reminds me of all the trashy, brain-rotting, soap operas she watches every afternoon back home. Damn it, mom!"

"More to the point…" Assassin said before shaking her head. "It seems as though the woman before us has allowed herself to fall prey to Lancer's infamous 'love spot'. Hmm…interesting...if I remember correctly, she is Lord El-Melloi's betrothed, is she not?"

"She is." Cerberus confirmed.

"Ah…then it could be assumed that if she allowed herself to fall prey to the love spot, then she may have been unhappy with her arranged marriage with the lord."

"That is a likely hypothesis." Cerberus said before shaking her head. "If that is the case though…then fate truly has a twisted sense of humor. This is essentially what happened to Lancer in life, when the unhappy wife of Lancer's lord allowed herself to fall for him in order to escape what she saw as an unfulfilling life and future. Long story short, they eloped, and bad things went down. Damn it…"

Cerberus shook her head again, her face twisted in disgust. In the meantime, Lancer was finally convinced to acknowledge Sola-Ui as his new Master, though only to obtain the Grail in order to restore Kayneth to full functionality. Cerberus shook her head at the sight, and deactivated the hologram.

"I need a fucking drink." She muttered while stalking out of the room.

"Might I join you, Master?"

"By all means."

* * *

"There's something bothering me."

"What is it?"

Kiritsugu looked up from where he had been bent over a table, its surface covered with maps. Colored pins marked key locations across the maps, along with notes written with grease pencil or colored pen, and here and there strings connected pins together. Irisviel walked over, and looked down on the maps for a few moments before looking at her husband.

"Assassin," she said. "If she'd infiltrated the castle and was watching in person as you and Lord El-Melloi were fighting it, why didn't she assassinate you both when the chance presented themselves? I mean…isn't the Assassin Class specifically meant to target the Masters themselves as opposed to their Servants?"

"Luviagelita probably ordered her not to." Kiritsugu immediately answered. "Though the 'why' is worrisome. It could just be that Luviagelita is too…honorable, for that, like her cousin Tokiomi…but I wouldn't count on it. Edelfelt are too pragmatic to act on that kind of reasoning."

"You think she has a plan?" Irisviel asked.

"I definitely do." Kiritsugu said with a nod. "What it involves though…I don't know. Not right now, and it makes me worry even more."

"Kiri…"

"First things first though," Kiritsugu said with a sigh. "We need to find her hideout. It'll probably include her field workshop, and much like what she said with regard to Kayneth's own hideout, it's where she's strongest. We take it out, and we cripple her."

Kiritsugu paused, and then smiled. "And since her Servant is Assassin," he said. "Once we take it out, it shouldn't be too much trouble to take her out afterwards."

Irisviel looked troubled. "Aren't you underestimating her?" she asked.

"No, I'm not." Kiritsugu assured her. "I already know my typical bullets won't work against her, so I'll just have to take things up a notch."

Irisviel raised her eyebrows at that, and looked on as Kiritsugu walked over to a wall and came back carrying a large and heavy bullet. ".50 BMG," he said, setting it down on the table. "Usually used by heavy machine guns, it's also used by anti-materiel rifles. With an effective range of two kilometers, it can shoot through anything less than twenty inches of reinforced concrete."

Kiritsugu paused, and then chuckled. "In short," he said. "Unless her defenses are comparable to a hardened bunker's walls, Maiya or me just need to get her out into the open. That will be enough."

"And if that still isn't enough?"

"It should be."

"And if it isn't?"

"Then I'll just have to bury her alive." Kiritsugu said with a stony face. "Explosives underground should do the trick. We've come this far, and are putting everything on the line. Not just our lives, but even our family. Our daughter's future…even lasting peace for the whole world, and no stubborn hyena is going to get in our way of winning this."

Irisviel sadly and silently nodded, and embracing her husband pressed her head against him. Kiritsugu embraced her back, and turned his head to look at the map. "_But we have to find her first._" He thought. "_Until then, we focus on getting Kayneth off the board, once and for all._"

* * *

Cerberus yawned as she wandered through her sanctum, having slept through almost the whole day. Indeed, the Sun was already beginning to set by the time she woke up. Walking to a nearby pantry, she prepared some coffee for herself, and wandered back out with a steaming mug in hand. Making her way to her central terminal, she took in the various screens with a glance, and then blinked at a blinking red light on the control panel.

Pressing the light, Cerberus' eyes went wide as she spotted Rin Tohsaka playing hooky. No, more than that: she was wandering down towards the dock area, no doubt having picked up and tracking Caster and/or his Master's trail and the children they'd abducted. One or more of whom included Rin's friends.

"Assassin!" Cerberus said while lifting her mug to her lips. She choked on the heated liquid as Assassin shimmered into existence.

"Master?" she asked.

"Rin Tohsaka is on the move." Cerberus answered. "Time to set our plan into motion. You know what to do."

"Indeed I do, Master." Assassin said with a bow. As she rose up, she looked several years younger, if not more so, only slightly past ten-years old if even that. "Should I proceed in advance?"

"Do that." Cerberus said with a nod, and taking another drink of her coffee. "I'll rendezvous with you on the field."

"By your command."

Assassin bowed and then vanished into astral form, Cerberus feeling her presence vanishing from both presence concealment, and the growing distance between them. Cerberus finished her coffee while observing the situation and confirming that nothing further required her attention, and then rushed off to freshen up in a shower.

Twenty minutes later and she was biting down granola bars while pulling on her bodysuit, and then strapping armor plating above. Air hissed as she put her helmet on, and then clipped her sword to her waist.

"_Let's go._" Cerberus thought, as she shimmered into invisibility before sweeping out of her guesthouse and then through the temple grounds and down the staircase to the city beneath.

It was time to go to war.

* * *

"This is an unusual find, Ryuunosuke." Caster observed, as he met with his Master, both accompanied by entourages of entranced children behind them. The Servant's bulging eyes were focused on an older child in his Master's entourage, though he could see why Ryuunosuke had brought her along.

"Yeah, she's older than I prefer my material to be." Ryuunosuke admitted, approaching the child in question. "But, look at her face, master! She's so cute! I couldn't pass it up!"

"Indeed, indeed," Caster said with a nod, also approaching the child and stroking his chin while closely regarding her. "It would be such a waste to let such beauty go unappreciated. And even her age might be a blessing as well. Think of it as…adding something new, to our work. Like adding spice to a stew to make the taste richer."

"Oh, now that you mention it, that works!" Ryuunosuke enthusiastically agreed. "I never thought of things like that! You're so cool, master!"

Caster preened. "Such flattery does not become you, Ryuunosuke." He modestly replied. "Though I would advise you not to forget my centuries of experience ahead of you."

"Yes, yes," Ryuunosuke said with quick nods, before giving a salute, grinning all the while. "I understand, master!"

Caster nodded, and turning away from his Master made to walk away…

…and then blood flew and Caster staggered, as the tip of a long-bladed dagger punched its way out of his chest, the rest of the weapon going through his heart and body, having been stabbed into him from behind. "Master!" Ryuunosuke shouted.

Caster gagged, choking out blood before turning his head to see. Behind him, the child stared with cold, icy eyes, and then shimmered as she cast aside her deception to expose the dark-clothed, silver-masked visage of Assassin. "A-A-Assassin…!" Caster gurgled in rage. "Shameless cur! Cthul…!"

Before he could finish casting his aria, Assassin drew two blades in the blink of an eye, and swinging both at once, parted Caster's head from his body. At the same time, a blast of blue energy struck a patch of shadow nearby, high-pitched squeals of agony erupting into the air as Caster's creatures were blown apart.

"What…?" Ryuunosuke had time to say as he took a step back, and then he cried out in pain, as something or someone cut his knees out from behind him. The young man fell to his knees, a white-armored figure stepping around him swinging blood off her _wakizashi_. As she stepped before him, she brought her _wakizashi _up to one side, held two-handed, and in one swing, took Ryuunosuke's head clean off, an execution in full.

For a moment, Ryuunosuke's body tottered where it was, as though his shade couldn't quite comprehend its body's death, and then it toppled backward, blood spilling from the stump of the neck and pooling on the ground.

* * *

Cerberus raised a hand as the children began to panic, Caster and his Master's numbing hold on their minds broken. "Hold," she said, using the word to bolster her mental interference. Normally, she would use these mysteries as single-action ones, but children's minds needed more refinement and thus effort to avoid causing unwanted complications. Altering their memories to remove herself and Assassin from them as well as to make it seem as though Ryuunosuke and Caster were just ordinary serial killers who had run into vigilantes who'd killed them before letting the children go, Cerberus added a mental command for the kids to go home. Or, if they didn't know how to go home from the docks area, how to get to the nearest police station to be escorted home.

The vast majority of the children were done in short order, and began moving home in haste. One of them however, resisted Cerberus' hold, and indeed, simply played along, just like she'd played along with Caster and his Master.

_Hello, Rin._

Rin Tohsaka stumbled as the thought slipped into her mind, and she turned…

…just in time for Cerberus to walk over, and gently but firmly press a needle coated with a potent knockout agent to her forehead. Rin staggered, crumpling to her knees and almost falling to the ground if not for Cerberus catching her, and though she weakly struggled, it wasn't long before her eyelids closed and she fell limp.

"Mission accomplished." Cerberus said with a grin, standing up with an unconscious Rin held bridal style in her arms. "How are things on your end, Assassin?"

As though in response, Assassin cut another one of Caster's creatures into four, ichor hissing and boiling away into foul-smelling gas as it reacted with Assassin's poisons. "That's the last of them." She said. "We may proceed."

Cerberus nodded. "Very good, very good." She said. "Let's get this girl back to Ryuudo, and then we'll come back immediately."

"Master?"

Cerberus gestured with her head at a nearby storm drain leading into the undercity. "Caster's lair," she said. "There are other victims inside, no doubt. Let's save as many as we can, and then burn the rest to ash."

"Yes, of course. By your command, Master."

Cerberus nodded, and then shimmered into invisibility. Assassin also faded into astral form, and then unseen and undetected, Master and Servant left the area, sweeping back through the city towards Mount Enzo and Ryuudo Temple. And then leaving Rin there, back again, to the docks and thence the undercity, to Caster's lair.

* * *

_This is fucking messed up._

Cerberus' face was like stone as she strode through what had been Caster's lair, blood and ichor staining the gold trim and white finish of her boots as she proceeded down the dank and echoing corridors. Rotting corpses lined the walls, bearing evidence of horrors inflicted upon them and in such a way they had lived in the aftermath, their screams and cries of pain and pleas for help merging into a horrendous orchestra that had tickled the fancies of the deranged Servant and his equally deranged Master.

Foul-smelling ichor dripped down from the ceiling, from innards cut out of the victims with chilling care, and rearranged into frescoes of bone and flesh. Cerberus didn't dare look. Once was enough.

_Never thought I'd find someplace more twisted than Zouken Matou's lair._

_Though maybe I shouldn't think that._

Cerberus shuddered as she remembered some of the other places she'd been through, bringing fire and death to the horrors within, horrors that she could still remember clearly, thanks to a magus' eidetic memory. She could forget, but she didn't want to. She mustn't.

They were a reminder of what lows magi of exceeding intellect and potential could sink to in pursuit of their goals, of what unconditionally surrendering to one's nature could lead to, of letting it rule one instead of the other way around. It was the one thing she feared the most.

And so Cerberus proceeded through Caster's lair, her helmet removed to better burn the sights and sounds and smells and _feel _of the place into her mind, her memory, the better to ensure she would never forget. And more than that, it was to honor the souls of the fallen, not with a cold mask of finished metal, but with a Human face, twisted with revulsion at what had been done here in the dark.

Every so often as well, a small and twisted figure would twitch at Cerberus' approach, and extend withered limbs and gasp out feeble, unintelligible pleas. A swing of Cerberus' _wakizashi _ended their lives and agonies, the only mercy she could give them, along with a compassionate glance.

Finally, she reached the end of the gallery of horror. Fingers tapped on Cerberus' omni-tool, which she swept out before her. "This is the end of it all." She said softly. "Fuck this place."

"It should burn." Assassin remarked, her voice as cold as the winters of the mountainous steppes she had grown up and lived at in life.

"I was always planning to burn this place down." Cerberus answered, tapping once more on her omni-tool. "Come on, the mechs are on their way. We'll need to supervise the placement of incendiaries."

"Yes, Master."

Cerberus and Assassin proceeded back the way they came, speaking softly as they focused on a holographic map of the galleries they were in, and the best place to position the incendiaries at. Cerberus had already an idea of the positioning, but mindful of Assassin's experience in assassination, infiltration, and sabotage, sought her advice as well.

Assassin provided it, and with some reflection on her part between the nature of the incendiaries to be used and her greater understanding of the modern architecture and engineering of the place, Cerberus adopted some of her Servant's advice as well. Master and Servant alike then came to a halt at the sound of mechanical limbs in the dark, and minutes later red lights could be seen approaching in the distance. Finally, they emerged into the light of the glowrods Cerberus had deployed around them, bipedal machines with a generally-humanoid appearance.

Most carried shotguns with them, though a few had their weapons strapped behind their waists, instead carrying large and bulky cases with them. "Arriving at zone of operations." The mechs chorused as the came to a halt, and lowering their cases. "Awaiting new orders."

Cerberus ignored them at first, instead opening the cases and examining the thermite charges and magnesium fuses inside, her preferred tools for destroying magi workshops. Nuclear weapons – neutron bombs preferably – would have been more thorough, but those tended to be impossible to get much less build on her own, and their explosions (understandably) attracted too much attention.

Thermite and magnesium, though…

…they still attracted plenty of attention, but were easier to acquire and previously-mentioned attention was not nearly as troublesome compared to what would happen if a twenty-kiloton ordnance went off.

"Alpha Team," Cerberus said while getting to her feet after examining the charges and fuses, and activating her omni-tool. "Your orders are to affix thermite charges at the following locations within this area. Wire them with magnesium fuses, and link them to the central detonator at this location. Bravo Team, same orders except within _this _area. Charlie Team, again, same orders except within _this _area. Delta and Echo Teams will provide security, while Assassin and myself set up the central detonator. You have your orders, proceed!"

Whirring sounds indicated the mechs' acknowledgement of their orders, and whining mechanical limbs echoed in the gloom as they proceeded. Meanwhile, Cerberus and Assassin hefted the detonator and carried it to a central area, where Cerberus checked the charge on the battery. "Battery's good." She said, before checking the receiver. "Same for the receiver."

Reaching down, Cerberus unclipped the remote detonator and conducted a trial, sparks flying happily from the detonator and which, in a non-trial event, would ignite the magnesium fuses. "Very good," she said. "Now we wait."

Master and Servant waited in silence, only the dripping of liquid and the sound of mechanical limbs to be heard in the dark. The minutes ticked by, mechs coming and going as they placed thermite charges everywhere and wired magnesium fuses to the main detonator.

"Charges are armed." Cerberus said as they finished. "Let's get out of here."

The mechs followed Cerberus and Assassin as they walked out of the galleries, Cerberus and Assassin giving silent prayers as they left. Cerberus to the gods of her people, and Assassin to her one God. They proceeded through dark tunnels, until they emerged into the open once more through a storm drain.

Above, a few stars glimmered through a sky made hazy with light pollution, and Cerberus pushed the button on her remote detonator. There was no rumbling or shaking, no boom of an explosion, but minutes later and foul, acrid smoke began to waft from the storm drain. "That did it." Cerberus said. "Let's go back to the temple. I want to light some incense for the poor souls who met their ends down there."

"I too would offer prayers." Assassin said. "Theirs…were not good deaths. Allah grant them peace, and may the souls of their tormentors burn in the hells for all time."

"I completely agree." Cerberus darkly said. "Let's go. I've had enough of this place."

* * *

A/N

And so Caster is once again the first Servant to fall, by the blades of the Old Man of the Mountain. Ryuunosuke meets his death executed by a twenty-first century ninja, and their lair gets burned to ash.

Rin is also now in Cerberus' hands, which means that she is now able to operate more actively than before. We shall see what plans she has for Rin.


	7. Part VII

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part VII

Rin woke with a gasp, quickly pushing herself off the futon she was lying in, her little body heaving as she caught her breath. The events of the past few hours caught up to her, and in mounting panic Rin looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings and the _yukata _she was wearing…and which she had _not _been wearing during the previous night.

At once, she got out of the futon, and rushed towards the sliding doors that likely led outside, given the bright sunlight percolating through the paper panels. Her fingers grasped the handle and pulled, but the doors stayed shut, immovable to her and it was obvious why. The moment she touched the handle, she felt the magic that had been woven over the doors, and the power behind it.

_A bounded field…no…I can't…no…I need my gems!_

Rin rushed across her room, to another sliding door. This one opened easily, leading to a darkened corridor outside. Rin rushed down the corridor, pulling doors open to reveal storage spaces behind most, and a toilet behind another. She reached an intersection, one corridor leading to another set of doors that probably led outside, so she turned down the other corridor.

There were more doors along the way, those on the right again exposing storage spaces, and those to the left unused rooms. Reaching the doors at the end of the corridor, Rin opened them to find herself looking into a fair-sized sitting room. A woman sat at the table, wearing a dress with a white top and long black sleeves. A hollowed-out hexagon in gold was printed on the upper left of her dress.

"Good morning, Rin." The woman greeted Rin, and lowered a steaming mug.

Rin turned to run, only to bump against a pair of legs, causing her to fall on her rump. Rin stared up…

…and began to scream at the sight of a silver half-mask leering down at her. She scrambled back in panic, the dark-clothed and silver-masked woman closing the doors. "Now, now," the woman at the table said. "Don't be like that. I know Assassin looks quite…scary, but she's actually a fairly easy woman to get along with."

"W-w-who are you?" Rin stammered out.

"Oh, good question!" the woman at the table said. "You can call me Cerberus."

"Cerberus…the guardian of the underworld?'"

"Oh good!" Cerberus said with a grin. "You know your Greek mythology!"

"Of course I do!" Rin preened before remembering where she was. "What do you want from me?"

"Don't be so worried." Cerberus told her. "I did save you and those kids from that crazy son of a…um, yeah, let's just go with crazy freaks down by the river, and sent them home safe and sound."

"I want to go home too!" Rin said with a pout.

"And you will." Cerberus said with a nod. "You just have to do something for me first."

"And what's that?"

"You will know when the time comes." Cerberus said before taking a drink of her coffee. "Until then I'd have you stay here as my guest. Rest assured, as long as you behave, and cooperate when the time comes, then everything will be fine."

"Daddy will come and save me."

Cerberus visibly paused at that, and then made a strange sound while smiling a very bitter smile. "I wouldn't count on it." She said.

"Yes, he will!" Rin said assertively. "He loves me very much, and he'll do everything to keep me safe, and get me back! He's a really powerful magus too, so if you don't want to get it, you better let me go!"

"Your father is average at best." Cerberus dryly replied. "I, in contrast, could easily earn the rank of 'Pride' if I wanted to, and already possess the Noble Color of 'Jewel'. He wouldn't last a minute against me. And you shouldn't be so sure that simply because he loves you, he'd do everything for your sake."

Rin's jaw dropped at the matter-of-fact declaration of Cerberus' abilities, but then bristled at the dismissal of her father's love for her. "Daddy would never abandon me!" she shouted.

"I know your father." Cerberus said, in a soft voice while looking into the distance. "Yes, I know him. I suppose it's only natural for a child to look up to her daddy, to see him as a hero who'd protect them from the monsters out there who might want to hurt her…but he's also a magus. Yes…a magus…through and through. And because of that…he can't really love anyone. Not really…for a magus, there is only the pursuit of the Root, the legacy that must be left to their descendants to take up, honor, and add to, and any and all sacrifices to achieve all that."

Cerberus paused, blinking before looking back at Rin, who flinched at the glowing blue of her eyes. "In short," she said. "If the choice is between sacrificing you and sacrificing his pride as a magus, he would always choose the former."

"That's not true!"

"Is it?" Cerberus asked with a feral smile. "Then where is your sister now?"

"…I…she…that doesn't mean anything!" Rin stammered out, struggling to defend her father's decision to send away her sister. "Sakura…she…she couldn't become a magus if she stayed with us, so she was sent to…"

"Don't butter it up." Cerberus coldly interrupted. "Say it as it is: she was useless to your father, so she was thrown away."

"That's not true!"

"Search your feelings." Cerberus said. "You know it to be true."

"NO!" Rin screamed, covering her ears. "IT'S NOT TRUE! SHE WASN'T…SHE WASN'T…DADDY WOULDN'T DO THAT!"

"He can and he did." Cerberus said, sounding all the more believable with her calm and soft-spoken words, in contrast to Rin's shouted and desperate responses. "In time you will see. And I'm sure you'll agree eventually. You're a smart girl, and with the potential to become as powerful as I am. But more than that, you actually have a heart. You can _truly _love other people, and care for and cherish them. You are your mother's daughter, not your father's."

Cerberus paused to look at her wristwatch. "Right now, there are other matters to attend to." She said, while getting to her feet. "I'm sure you're hungry, so I've had breakfast prepared. Eat as much as you like, as I said, you are my guest here and now, until the time comes when your task must be done. I take my leave."

Giving a curt bow, Cerberus left the softly-sobbing Rin alone in the room, vanishing into the corridor beyond, Assassin trailing after her.

* * *

Risei was busy tending to his garden when he sensed someone enter his church. Puzzled at a visitor at this time of day but knowing that the church was open to any and all seeking guidance and sanctuary at any time, Risei didn't begrudge their coming. Rinsing his hands at a nearby faucet, Risei took the time to change into a clean shirt before putting on his habit, and then proceeded back to the church itself.

A young woman was there, sitting on one of the pews, wearing a knee-length dress with a white top and black long sleeves and skirt. A hollowed-out hexagon was printed in gold on the upper left of the dress, though Risei quickly turned away from appearances as the young woman rose to her feet.

"Good day, father." She greeted him with a polite bow.

"Good day, child." Risei returned the greeting with a smile. "How may I be of aid to you?"

At those words, Assassin shimmered into existence behind the woman. "Allow me to introduce myself." She said with another bow. "I am called Cerberus, Master of Assassin, and I come here seeking the reward offered by the overseer for the deaths of Caster and his Servant."

Risei raised an eyebrow at meeting the elusive Cerberus, and immediately noted the similarities between her and Tokiomi. The eyes, especially: they were same shape and shade, though where Tokiomi's eyes were cold and dead, Cerberus' were alive and filled with vibrant energy.

"I will require proof of such a claim." He said instead.

"But of course," Cerberus said, indicating her Servant with a hand gesture. "Assassin here was the one who killed Caster on my orders, and bore witness to my…elimination, of his Master. As you are the Overseer of the Holy Grail War, you possess the authority to give absolute commands to any Servant…including vouching for our claims."

"Indeed I do." Risei said with a slow nod. He then turned to Assassin, who returned his gaze through her silver half-mask. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Risei raised a hand. Beneath his sleeve, one of his command spells vanished. "By the power of a command spell, I command you Assassin, to answer my questions truthfully and completely."

"Ask."

"Did you slay the Servant Caster?"

"I did."

"Did your Master slay Caster's Master?"

"She did."

Risei nodded. "Very well," he said, turning back to Cerberus. "I acknowledge your claim, and as per my previous declaration, for the elimination of Caster and his Master I grant you the offered reward of an extra command spell. Hold out your arm, please."

Cerberus nodded, and unbuttoned her right cuff. Risei silently looked on, though his eyebrows rose as he watched Cerberus roll up her sleeve, and exposing a leather harness strapped to her arm, and slid securely into it was a trowel-like weapon of some kind. For her part, Cerberus was unfazed by Risei's mixed curiosity and alarm, and just as silently unclipped the harness, and baring her arm in full.

Risei blinked again, at the burn scars around her wrist, and the three semi-circular command spells engraved on her forearm. "_They resemble Tokiomi's…_" he thought in curiosity. "_Then again, they might just be cousins, so it shouldn't be a surprise…_"

Risei bared his own forearm in turn, and this time it was Cerberus' turn to blink in surprise when instead of seeing an old and withered limb, she saw a muscular and well-exercised one instead. Risei took her hand, and held it firmly. "As the Overseer of the Holy Grail War," he began, one of his command spells glowing. "In recognition of her fulfilment of a task given to preserve the orderliness of the contest, I grant the one called Cerberus, Master of Servant Assassin, one and only one additional command spell."

The glowing command spell vanished…

…and then reappeared, taking the form of a fourth semi-circle on Cerberus' forearm.

"It is done." Risei said.

"So it is." Cerberus said, holding up her forearm to examine her command spells before reattaching her harness, and then unrolling her sleeve buttoned the cuff once more.

"One more question before you leave." Risei asked.

"Yes?"

"Are you perhaps, descended from the Edelfelt Clan of magi?"

Cerberus raised her eyebrow, and then gave an amused smile. "I am, actually." She said. "My grandmother on my father's side of the family was an Edelfelt magus. Though, despite the…maternal, nature of my descent, I am nevertheless still entitled to bear the Edelfelt name itself. I am proud to say that I am close to my cousins. Very much so…"

Cerberus trailed off with a soft smile, her eyes similarly soft, and Risei immediately knew that she was telling the truth. Few magi had as…close, families as the Edelfelt had, and it was clear Cerberus cherished her bonds with her family, and that it was very likely reciprocated.

_If only Tokiomi or his mother's efforts at reconciliation had succeeded, then a child need not have been sacrificed._

"I see." Risei said with a nod. "I apologize for prying, but I simply wished to confirm my suspicions."

"…and where exactly did you base your suspicions on?"

"Your face," Risei answered. "You briefly exposed it during the battle near the river a few days ago, and while you are brunette instead of blonde as your family tend to be, you would otherwise not look out of place among them."

Cerberus laughed. "I see." She said. "Thank you."

"You are welcome."

Cerberus hummed and then tilted her head. "There is one more thing I have to ask of you though, father." She said.

"And what might that be?"

"On your authority as overseer," she said. "Summon the representatives of the founding families here, for an emergency meeting with regard to the continued safety of the Holy Grail."

"What?" Risei asked in surprise.

"As unbelievable as it might seem," Cerberus said. "I truly am from a…possible, future. And I am prepared to bind myself to a geis to certify that fact, and to answer truthfully with regard to certain questions, but only if you call such a meeting."

"…what is the Wizard Marshal planning?" Risei asked.

Cerberus smiled and shrugged. "Who knows?" she asked, before pulling out a folded piece of parchment, and handing it to Risei. The priest opened it, and narrowed his eyes as he saw and felt it for what it was: a geis scroll.

"_On pain of the destruction of her mystic eyes,_" he silently read. "_Kirsikka Edelfelt agrees to truthfully answer questions with regard to the corruption of the Holy Grail of Fuyuki, and the events of the Fifth Holy Grail War as they happened in her timeline. The following limitations will apply. Item: this geis will only be valid for a single discussion. Item: questions not pertaining to the previously-mentioned subject matter will not be covered by the geis. Item: questioning must be done in a discussion presided over by the overseer of the Holy Grail, and including representatives of at least two founding families._"

Risei's eyes slid down to the bottom of the page, and read the same name beneath the space reserved for the signature.

_Kirsikka Edelfelt_

"This geis is unsigned." He observed.

"Indeed," Cerberus said, taking the geis scroll and pulling out a fountain pen punctured a finger to sign in blood. Magic circuits flickered across her body, and her eyes glowed as she placed her mystic eyes as collateral. "Now, will you call the meeting?"

"…very well." Risei said with a sigh. "Though I must ask: why is the safety of the Holy Grail in question?"

"One word: Avenger."

Risei's eyes went wide, and then narrowed. "I see." He said. "I shall make the call."

* * *

"What?" Tokiomi asked in surprise. "Risei wants us to meet with Einzbern and Matou's representatives at Kotomine Church tomorrow morning?"

"That is so, master." Kirei confirmed.

"Did he say why?" Tokiomi asked.

"He only said that certain disturbing information has come to light, and that the details will be put forward and explained in tomorrow's discussion." Kirei replied. "As for why the information is…disturbing, apparently it involves the integrity of the Grail itself."

"Why did it only become apparent now?" Tokiomi demanded. "Now, in the middle of a Holy Grail War? And when I must focus on finding my missing daughter to boot!"

"I have no answers, master."

Tokiomi looked displeased, but Kirei wasn't done. "There is one more thing." He said.

"What?"

"This is only for you alone, master. It was not included in the summons sent to the other founding families."

"Hmm…"

"Your cousin Kirsikka sends her regards." Kirei said.

"…Cerberus." Tokiomi said with narrowed eyes. "So Edelfelt is involved…and more than that, cousin…Kirsikka, was it? Sends her regards…"

Tokiomi gave an unhappy sigh. "It seems it cannot be helped then." He said. "If nothing else, I would like to meet this cousin of mine in person. Perhaps this might even be a blessing in disguise, a sign that reconciliation is at hand…"

Tokiomi broke off as Archer burst out laughing nearby. "Reconciliation?" he echoed. "Reconciliation, he says? What a jest! What a farce! And yet, what truly raises this beyond the standards of cheap entertainment is that it is all based on a truth! Yes, truth based on a…certain, point of view, but truth still for all that."

Archer laughed again and shook his head, before throwing a grin in Tokiomi's direction, crimson eyes gleaming with mirth. "I grant you this, Tokiomi." He said. "Reconciliation is indeed at hand. But only, and only _if _you make the right choice at the right time. If so…then perhaps you are not so droll a man as I thought at first."

"I will endeavor to meet your expectations, Your Majesty."

Archer snorted in disbelief. "Indeed." He said.

* * *

"The overseer wants to hold a meeting?" Irisviel asked in surprise. "Between ourselves and representatives from Tohsaka and Matou?"

"That's what the message says." Kiritsugu said. "It will be held at Kotomine Church tomorrow morning. Go, though I'll be keeping a wiretap under your clothes to listen in."

"Or," Irisviel said. "You can just watch and listen through me. I'm sure we can find the time to…strengthen, the connection between us."

Kiritsugu blinked, and then chuckled before smiling fondly at his wife. "Where did you learn to talk like that?" he asked.

Irisviel blushed and fidgeted on her feet. "I've been reading some of the books in the library." She said. "They were very…interesting."

"Right…" Kiritsugu said with another laugh. "Well, I suppose I can spare the time. Especially since…"

Kiritsugu trailed off, his expression falling. "You are sure?" he asked.

Irisviel nodded. "Caster is dead." She said. "I don't know about his Master, but I felt his energy enter the Grail. There are only six Servants left."

"I wonder who took him out." Kiritsugu mused. "Oh well, I guess I owe whoever it was a pat on the back for stopping all those abductions and serial killings. Shame we still have to fight afterwards but…this is war."

"Yes." Irisviel said with a sad nod. "Did the overseer say anything else about why he was calling a meeting?"

"Apparently it involves some questions with regard to the Grail's stability." Kiritsugu said, his expression worried. "And to be honest, I think he has a point there. Worse, it's been staring at us in the face this whole time, and we've failed to notice it all along."

"What do you mean?"

"If I remember correctly," Kiritsugu said while pacing. "The Grail's built-in safety parameters prevent the summoning of Servants with an…evil, alignment. And yet…Caster…Gilles de Rais, was summoned."

"But…the safety parameters…" Irisviel breathed, her eyes wide. "That shouldn't have been possible!"

"And yet it happened regardless."

"But how?"

"I don't know." Kiritsugu said. "And that's what worries me."

"…should I inform my father?"

"…I don't know." Kiritsugu said with a sigh. "We probably should but…I don't think he's going to be very happy hearing about this."

"He needs to know." Irisviel whispered. "They need to know. In case something happens, then…"

Irisviel trailed off, and after a moment rushed off to make contact with her family in Germany. Kiritsugu stared where he was, an expression of worry and unease on his face.

* * *

Zouken Matou stood on the landing looming over the workshop below, witchlight casting him in ghastly colors. The sounds of countless bodies squirming wetly against each other and on stone could be heard in the dark, the ancient vampire long since used to the noise.

Not that it ever really bothered him, of course.

No, what bothered him and now was the summons from the overseer, asking for a meeting between representatives of the founding families, with regard to questions about the stability of the Grail. It was both worrying and annoying in equal measure.

Worrying, because he needed the Grail to achieve true immortality. If there were problems developing with regard to the system's functionality, then they needed to found and corrected before they compromised anything beyond repair.

Annoying, because it reminded him of the missed opportunity this war represented. When Tohsaka had discarded his spare to Zouken, Zouken's own prodigal son and former heir Kariya had returned in short order, offering himself in exchange for the Tohsaka girl to be returned to her family.

Zouken had refused of course. The girl's sheer potential was incredible, worth far more than Kariya would ever be, and completely comedic in light of how Tokiomi had discarded it so easily. Had he been in Tokiomi's place, Zouken would never have discarded her. She would have been far too useful, both as an eventual brood mare to resurrect his withered line, a future vessel for his soul, and finally, as a potential means to gain complete control of the Heaven's Feel ritual.

But…he had not told as such to Kariya. Just enough to make the useless prodigal make a deal he could never fulfil, to become a Master in the Holy Grail War and attempt to win the Grail for Zouken. Should he succeed, then the Tohsaka girl could return to her family.

Not that he had any real chance of succeeding of course…

…but in the miraculous event that he did, well, what was a girl compared to finally gaining the Grail and with it, immortality?

But the fool had been even more useless than Zouken had initially thought, the Grail ignoring him as a possible Master, and with no one else apparently deemed suitable for a Master among them, the Matou had _not _been granted command spells for the war. In hindsight, it should have been expected, between Zouken's own…situation, Byakuya and Kariya's uselessness and the Tohsaka material's extreme youth…

…still, unacceptable.

The worms had feasted well for days, though Zouken had taken care to recover his bones as an example to the Tohsaka material at how…futile, resistance was.

As though in response to the thought, there was a frail whimper from below, and a ghastly smirk crossed Zouken's face. The worms' squirming and activity intensified, and if there were any more whimpers from below, they were drowned out.

* * *

"Master,"

"Yes?"

Cerberus paused climbing the stairs leading to Ryuudo Temple, turning to face her Servant, again wearing the guise of a pretty but otherwise unremarkable young woman. "If I may ask," Assassin quietly said. "Was the name you gave earlier truly yours?"

"If you mean it's my True Name," Cerberus admitted. "Then it is not. 'Kirsikka Edelfelt' is not the name my mother gave me. It's a name given to me partly in jest, but also partly in fact by my cousin Luvia. Apparently, enough of it is fact for a geis to recognize it."

Cerberus paused, and then snorted in amusement, shaking her head. "She's probably sneezing by now," she said with a smile. "That I've gone and used the name she gave me. And my sister's probably throwing a fit for the same reason, though I doubt they'd realize why…at least until I come back and start telling them the story we're in right now."

Shaking her head again, Cerberus resumed walking up the stairway. "Are you disappointed, Assassin?" she asked. "That I would use such…falsities?"

"I am in no place to judge." Assassin said. "In life, even I cannot count all the falsities I wore to approach my quarries, and grant them the gift of death."

"I see." Cerberus said with a nod as they passed through the gates. "Anyway, the plan is well into motion. The first and second phases are done, and tomorrow morning the third and fourth phases will come into play."

Cerberus paused, and turned to Assassin. "Take the D-Equipment from storage, and prepare to head down to the waterfront." He said. "I think the time is right to set the stage for the seventh phase."

"We shall do this in daylight?"

Cerberus smiled. "The war is meant to be fought in the night and shadows." She said. "If so, then the best time to make our move is when the Sun is up and about, and take advantage of its light blinding our opponents to our movements."

"As you say, master."

Cerberus nodded. "But first," she said. "I too must procure some additional equipment of my own. And I must see to little Rin as well. Her wellbeing is critical to the seventh phase."

* * *

A/N

Trying to crack Rin – even as a child of seven – in an exchange of wits is an exercise in futility. She's too smart. Aim for the cracks in her emotional control however, pull them apart, and go for her heart, and she'll fold surprisingly easily.

Yes, it's a very complicated plan at first glance, isn't it? Seven phases, and there's no telling if there's more than those seven phases that have been alluded to.


	8. Part VIII

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part VIII

The docks proper thronged with men at work, wearing reflective vests over monochromatic uniforms to make them more visible to spot, as well as hardhats to protect their heads from the danger of falling objects. Gigantic cranes hummed as they moved to and fro, gears clunking as hooks and lines extended and retracted, picking up shipping containers and pallets, moving them from one place to another, or loading or unloading one ship or another. Ships sat at anchor on the quays, while others waited in the waters of the harbor, loudspeakers periodically blaring out status updates on the coming and going of ships and goods among other matters.

Trucks and vehicles rumbled through narrow thoroughfares, men bustling on the sidewalks. Cerberus was among them, wearing dark, workmanlike clothing under a many-pocketed vest, along with a helmet featuring a visor in front. She carried a heavy pack behind her, looking no different from the many men and women who worked on the docks, and so no one paid any mind to her, even when she slipped from the sidewalk and down an alley to the side.

Making her way through the alleys, she approached the docks' central operations center, though her true goal was the gigantic radio antenna which rose up high into the sky above the building, multiple satellite dishes staring out in every direction at periodic intervals along the antenna's skeleton. Casually walking out of an alley and then crossing a street, Cerberus approached the checkpoint guarding the only way in or out of the cyclone wire security fence surrounding the central operations center.

"Your ID and business please." The security guard on duty said in a bored tone as Cerberus stepped up to him.

"You don't need to see my identification." Cerberus said, injecting prana into her voice and giving it a little twist.

"I don't need to see your identification." The guard said, still sounding bored.

"You can go on your business." Cerberus continued.

The guard made a dismissive wave. "Move along." He said, and smirking to herself, Cerberus stepped past and into the grounds behind the security fence.

Crossing the concrete expanse around the building, Cerberus entered through a service door, and studying a wall-mounted map of the building, tapped twice on the map. "Over there." She muttered, before heading for the stairs.

Climbing up to the second floor, Cerberus made her way to the main security center, and knocked a few times on the door. Several moments later, and an annoyed-looking guard opened the door. Cerberus waved a hand as he began to speak, and the guard and those inside immediately relaxed, 'recognizing' Cerberus as a superior and to not question her orders or actions.

"I'm going to need to use the main antenna." Cerberus said, slipping into the room and closing it behind her. "However, I need you people to make sure that as far as everyone else is concerned, nothing happened, and I was never here."

"Leave it to us, ma'am." The ranking guard said, and Cerberus nodded while approaching a nearby bank of computers. She dropped her pack and pulled out a laptop, which she plugged into the security mainframe.

Bringing the laptop out of sleep, Cerberus brought up command prompt, and entering a series of commands bypassed security protocols by piggybacking on the building's own security systems. From there, she introduced a series of ciphers into the mainframe, and after making sure their integration was seamless, cut her connection and unplugged her laptop.

"I'll need a security key." Cerberus said while putting her laptop back inside her pack, and the ranking guard walked to a wall-mounted cabinet. Opening it, the man rummaged inside for a few moments, and handed Cerberus a key card. "Thanks."

"Yes ma'am."

Cerberus nodded, pulling her pack back on, and taking the key card left the security room. Making her way back to the stairs, she climbed up to the rooftop level, and used the key card to open the door without tripping an alarm. Going round the blockhouse, she then used an access ladder to reach the antenna, and after a few minutes of searching found what she needed.

Reinforcement allowed Cerberus to simply tear the lock off the junction box, and opening it examined the innards for several minutes. Lowering her pack, Cerberus then pulled out a large, rectangular device with a dome-like transceiver at the center, and placed it in an out of the way corner. She then pulled out a cable, one end of which she plugged into the device, and the other into the junction box.

She then pulled out her laptop, and similarly plugged it into the junction box. Again bringing her laptop out of sleep, she used her previously-introduced ciphers to again bypass the operation center's security systems and operational protocols, and after introducing a pair of fail-safes, set the laptop down. Grabbing the device from earlier and making sure the cable was long enough, Cerberus tucked it under an arm and began to climb another service ladder, to the nearest satellite dish.

It was to this dish that she affixed the device, physically by means of magnetic bolts, and operationally through another cable to the satellite's own hardware. A flick of a switch activated the built-in transceiver, Cerberus subsequently conducting a couple of trials to be sure the interface was functioning as it should. She then climbed back down, and picking up her laptop quickly began typing away on command prompt.

There was a humming sound as the dish realigned herself as per her command, Cerberus smiling as her bypasses kept the little people working in the center from noticing her subtle, not-quite-sabotage of their machinery. She then typed in more commands, ellipses appearing one after another as her computer attempted to execute.

Minutes later, and there was a beeping sound, a satisfying message appearing on command prompt.

**UPLINK SUCCESSFUL, ACCESS GRANTED. MAGES ASSOCIATION, CLOCK TOWER, THE DEPARTMENT OF MODERN MAGECRAFT THEORIES.**

Cerberus clapped her hands in triumph, and then typed in more commands. Ellipses appeared again, and with another beep, another message appeared.

**UPLINK SUCCESSFUL, AWAITING DATA UPLOAD. MAGES ASSOCIATION, CLOCK TOWER. DESTINATION A: THE DEPARTMENT OF MODERN MAGECRAFT THEORIES. DESTINATION B: THE COLLEGE OF LAW.**

Cerberus smiled, and reached out to her Servant. "_Status?_" she queried.

"_I have acquired a boat as per the plan's requirements._" Assassin answered. "_I am now loading and assembling the D-Equipment as needed._"

Cerberus smiled wider. "_Excellent,_" she though. "_Everything is proceeding as planned._"

* * *

A childish yell greeted Cerberus' return to her sanctum, Rin jumping out of hiding and throwing an empty chamber pot at Cerberus. Cerberus dodged as did Assassin, Rin taking advantage to run past in a bid for freedom.

"_Fast!_" Cerberus thought in surprise. "_Is she reinforcing her limbs?_"

Rin blurred past…

…only to trip on Assassin's extended leg. With a cry of surprise, the little magus stumbled and fell on her face on the ground outside, and groaning in pain, rolled onto her back. And then sniffing once, fought not to cry while dabbing at the scrapes on her face.

"Kid, you're smart." Cerberus said, looming over her. "But when I have over twenty years of experience over you, and Assassin so much more, trying to escape is meaningless."

"…what do you want from me?" Rin asked.

"Be patient." Cerberus said, stooping down and helping Rin up led her back inside. "You'll find out soon enough. And when you do…you'll be thanking me for opening your eyes."

Rin blinked, and gave a childish sneer. "You're wrong." She said. "And I see what you're trying to do! You're trying to use me against daddy! Well, it won't work! Daddy will save me, you'll see!"

"Yes," Cerberus said with a laugh. "We shall all see, indeed. For now though, stay inside, and behave. And you won't be alone for long. Soon, someone will be joining you and keeping you company."

"…who's that?"

Cerberus tutted, a finger wagging in the air. "That's a surprise." She said. "Now come on, I need to have a look at those scrapes. We wouldn't want them to get infected, do we now?"

"Why do you care?"

Cerberus smirked. "That's my secret." She said. "Later though, I'll have you clean up that chamber pot you broke just now."

"What? Why?"

Cerberus took Rin by the head and playfully gave her a shake. "Because," she said. "It wouldn't have been broken if you hadn't thrown it. And so I'll have you take responsibility for it."

"…it wouldn't have broken if you hadn't dodged."

"And I would haven't needed to dodge if you hadn't thrown it."

"I wouldn't have thrown it if you'd just let me go."

Cerberus laughed. "Very funny," she said. "Regardless, I'll still have you clean it up later."

Rin just grumbled, and Cerberus laughed again.

* * *

"Wow," Rider said with a whistle. "Cerberus did a thorough job I'll give her that much."

Rider and Waver had been tracking down Caster and his Master, and by alchemically studying the prana levels in the river water, Waver had narrowed down Caster's potential lair somewhere upriver, likely somewhere in the labyrinthine undercity. They'd both been planning to take action during the night, only to be caught by surprise earlier in the day when the overseer had made an announcement, lifting the temporary halt to the contest with Caster and his Master's deaths, by the hands of Cerberus and Servant Assassin.

"Too thorough," Waver said, examining the scorched and cracked concrete. "I can see why the authorities cordoned it off. It's not just arson, though it might seem that way to them. The fire Cerberus set to burn this place down was _really_ hot…too hot, in fact. I mean, look."

Waver paused, pointing a finger and his flashlight to a series of cracks running along the scorched walls, and then running across the gallery, pointed to another. And then to another, and then another. Rider stroked his chin. "Hot enough to cause stones to crack, huh?" he mused.

Waver knelt down, and touching the scorched stone studied it for a moment. "More like hot enough to melt the surface." He said. "Look at the patterns here. See those swirling shapes? That's where concrete melted, and then pooled together to cool. And those glittering bits and pieces? That's glass, from where sand used to make the concrete turned into, well, glass."

Rider whistled again. "I'll take your word for it." He said.

"We should get out of here." Waver said, getting back on Rider's chariot. "All these cracks make me worry about the whole place coming down on top of us. I…wouldn't want to get buried alive."

"Well, neither would I." Rider said with a nod, cracking his reigns for the bulls to pull his chariot out. "And that aside, we shouldn't linger here. I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a faint…air, here. This is not a good place. It's seen too much death."

"Huh?"

Rider briefly closed his eyes and gave Waver an indulgent smile. "Still an innocent, I see." He said. "It's alright. A peaceful life isn't something to be ashamed about."

"Um…thanks."

Rider was silent for a moment. "This place should be left alone as much as possible." He said. "Too many people died here, and considering what we know of Caster and his Master…let's leave their ghosts in peace."

Waver said nothing, only nodding in agreement. Slowly but steadily, the bulls pulled their chariot out and away, and left the galleries behind in silence and darkness.

* * *

The Sun shone down from a surprisingly clear blue sky come following morning. A motorcade of three, black, up-armored Toyotas pulled up in front of the Matou property, thuggish, cadaverous men in black suits and shades standing guard as Zouken hobbled out of the mansion in his usual kimono and with a gnarled cane to help him walk. Making his way through the property, he boarded the Toyota in the middle, and once he was safely inside, his guards boarded their vehicles as well before departing for Kotomine Church.

The drive was nothing of the ordinary, the motorcade driving from the suburbs into the city proper, and through bustling streets towards their final destination. At least, that was the case until the Toyota in front of Zouken's literally blew up, the burning wreck flying apart and causing the driver to instinctively step on the brakes and turn to the side.

Rubber screeched as the Toyota spun to the side, and skidded across the road, sending flying debris in its path flying. And then it slammed hard against a bounded field on the far side of the road, said bounded field defining a large rectangle that covered the road and the shops and buildings on either side.

Powerful compulsions fell on the minds of the pedestrians, who rushed inside the stores before the storeowners and shopkeepers slammed shut the steel barriers they used at night to close their stores. Then their memories began to erased and altered as needed, while nothing of what was _really_ happening inside could be seen from outside the bounded field, everything appearing as normal. And even then, another powerful compulsion drove anyone coming near to find an alternate route around this section of the road.

The surviving Matou guards rushed out, weapons drawn, and then dove for cover as discs with flashing lights were thrown around. They exploded with the hissing of gas…

…and then the Matou guards were dropping like flies, clawing at their necks and foaming at the mouths. One's head literally exploded, worms crawling out only to die in the poisoned air.

Even Zouken was not exempt, clambering out of his Toyota in a black mood…

…only to collapse with a gasp onto his knees, coughing out blood and dead worms. "Oh I'm very impressed." A mocking voice said, the vampire raising his head to see an armored figure standing down the street from him. "Well, not really. From what I know of you, I expected the poisons, while debilitating, wouldn't really kill you. And they shouldn't."

Zouken snarled as he realized he'd been drawn into a trap, and made to dance to another's tune. That he was forced to his knees and openly mocked added further insult to injury, and his pride as a magus would not allow it to stand.

Flesh seemed to explode as Zouken unleashed his swarm, and the armored woman tilted her head indicative of amusement. It fizzled, Zouken's counterattack, worms collapsing mid-transformation into winged insects, falling to the ground twisted and dead, though here and there were a few twitching limbs and jaws.

Zouken groaned as he pulled his body back together, the act of unleashing his swarm allowing more of the poisoned air to affect him. Dead worms fell as his body literally and visibly flowed together, until once again, there was only an old man there, struggling to get up.

The woman drew her sword, and settled into a stance, sword held one-handed behind her, and the other hand held forward. "I am Cerberus," she declared. "And I shall be your death!"

At those words, Cerberus leapt forward, running to flank Zouken from his left. Zouken rose to his feet, ignoring the protests of his body as it simultaneously rotted while trying – slowly but steadily – to evolve an immunity to the poisoned air, and faced Cerberus…

…who then suddenly cartwheeled to the right before charging straight at him.

"_You think petty tricks and a fancy sword will help you!_" Zouken thought with malice, and erected an entropic field around him. Asphalt and concrete cracked and crumbled, fires died, metal rusted away, and rubber turned to dust…

…and then to his surprise and shock, Cerberus swung her sword once, and destroyed the entropic field.

_Impossible!_

"You've been marked for death for nearly four hundred years, Makiri Zolgen." The woman's mocking voice came. "It's time to go."

Cerberus again cartwheeled as Zouken fired off a bolt of black light from a crooked finger, the light striking a lamppost and causing it to crumble into a pile of rust. At the same time, he spat a word in Russian, redeploying the entropic field with greater intensity, and added a vampiric effect, Zouken feeling his internal injuries heal and his evolving resistance speed up as he sucked the life out of the microorganisms in the air and on the ground around him.

And then Cerberus swung again, and again Zouken was shocked as his entropic and vampiric field simply ceased to be.

_No! This is impossible! How can this…?_

And then Zouken felt cold steel pierce his body, and he looked down to see a _wakizashi _buried in his chest, Muramasa's distinctive work apparent from the patterns on the blade. "You think this…will…be…enough…" Zouken struggled to speak.

And then he couldn't speak anymore. In fact, he couldn't…

…remember…

…do…

…speak…

…cold…he felt…cold…

Dust crumbled and fell onto the ground as Cerberus flourished her sword and sheathed it, shimmering into invisibility as the bounded fields fell, and normalcy was allowed to return to the surrounding area. The case of the burned motorcade, the poisoned bodyguards, the missing landowner along with mysterious, dead worms of a kind never seen before found on the crime scene would cause a stir in the Japanese investigative community for months to come, but no closure would ever come to the case.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late," Cerberus said as she entered Kotomine Church, having changed from her armor to her casual black and white dress. "Traffic was bad…

She trailed off as Kirei intercepted her. "Your weapons, please." He said, with a hand held expectantly out.

Cerberus raised an eyebrow, and turned a deadpan glance into the church. She pointed at Tokiomi. "How come he gets to carry his cane?" she asked. "I know it's a mystic code, and thus technically a weapon."

"As you said," Kirei said. "It is a mystic code. If you have any mystic codes of your own, you are free to retain them, but any pure weapons must be surrendered."

"…is there a private room?"

"Of course, this way please."

Kirei led the grumbling Cerberus to an antechamber, and expectantly indicated a nearby table. Cerberus sighed, and unbuttoning her cuffs, rolled back her sleeves. Kirei raised an eyebrow as he spotted the harnesses strapped to her forearms, as well as the trowel-like weapons holstered in them, and again when she removed the harnesses and exposed the burn scars on her wrists.

And then Cerberus was removing her belt…

…to expose a _second _belt beneath, which she removed and placed on the table before replacing her first belt. This time, Kirei's eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hair as he spotted at least a dozen _bo-shuriken _holstered in Cerberus' second belt, and again when she reached behind her neck and removed a concealed holster from behind her, carrying multiple _hira-shuriken _inside.

"See something interesting, Father Kotomine?" Cerberus teasingly asked.

"I must admit your weaponry is most…obscure." Kirei said.

Cerberus laughed. "I suppose they are." She said. "Though they suit me and my nature."

"Do they?"

"Yes," Cerberus said, before looking into Kirei's eyes. "Just as I know that your nature could suit your occupation just as well."

"…you know nothing." Kirei whispered.

"Don't I?" Cerberus asked. "I'm sure your father's told you that I come from an alternate timeline. A possible future in fact…and I know you. I know that you enjoy watching people suffer, especially if you're the one behind their suffering. But while I didn't particularly like you…I respected you."

"Did you?"

"Indeed," Cerberus said with a nod. "We need not run from our natures, Kirei Kotomine."

"You know nothing." Kirei repeated.

Cerberus smiled. "Then let me tell you a secret," she said. "My origin is 'death', and my elemental affinity is also 'death'. My nature _is _as an incarnation of death."

Kirei's eyes went wide, and with a smile, Cerberus unrolled her sleeves, and buttoning her cuffs returned to the church. Kirei stared after her for a while, and then followed.

* * *

"So…" Cerberus began, walking up to the gathering. "Where's Matou? I see Tohsaka, and Einzbern, but no Matou."

Archer smirked knowingly nearby, but he said nothing. "I was told he'd attend this meeting." Tokiomi said with a frown. "This is…unexpected. Perhaps he was delayed? As you said, traffic is bad."

"Hmm…maybe…no matter. We have a quorum, and that's all that's needed." Cerberus said with a shrug.

"Before we begin," Risei said. "I would have all present examine this geis for context."

Cerberus stayed quiet as Risei passed around the geis scroll she'd signed yesterday, and ignored the surprised glances aimed at her. "What is the Wizard Marshal planning?" Tokiomi asked.

"That I do not know." Cerberus said, before activating her omni-tool. "All I know is that we have a chance to prevent a disaster as occurred at the end of this war in my timeline, and the near-disaster that occurred at the end of the Fifth Holy Grail War."

"…what do you mean?" Tokiomi asked with narrowed eyes.

"One word: Avenger."

At that Irisviel looked extremely uncomfortable. "Something you'd care to share with us, Lady Einzbern?" Tokiomi asked with a deadpan air.

Irisviel was disinclined to answer, and after a moment Cerberus spoke up. "Then allow me to explain." She began. "During the Third Holy Grail War, Einzbern made an effort to gain an…unfair, advantage over other competitors by summoning an anomalous Servant: Avenger."

"Yes, we know this." Tokiomi said with a nod. "It doesn't explain why it threatens the Grail's safety, however."

"What you didn't know is that Avenger's true identity is that of Angra Mainyu, the Persian God of Evil." Cerberus said.

"What?" Tokiomi exclaimed.

"Impossible," Risei said. "Actual divinities cannot be summoned as Servants in a Grail war."

"Normally, yes." Cerberus agreed. "But Einzbern is one of the founding families, and the ones most knowledgeable about the Grail. It was originally their design, after all. Matou provided the means to control Servants with, Tohsaka the location, but everything else about the Holy Grail is Einzbern's. Even the name: Heaven's Feel. Einzbern's lost and coveted True Magic."

Cerberus tapped away on her omni-tool, and projected a glowing schematic of the Holy Grail. "Einzbern used their knowledge of the Grail to bypass numerous built-in limiters and safeties," she said. "And summoned Angra Mainyu as Avenger. However, both because of the limitations of the Grail, as well as being summoned in the Age of Man, Avenger turned out to be a pathetic weakling, the first Servant to fall even in that war."

"But?" Kirei asked.

"Avenger was an anomalous class." Cerberus said. "As such, when he fell, he wasn't cast back to the Throne of Heroes as he should have been. Instead, he was trapped inside the Grail…"

"No…" Tokiomi said with mounting horror.

"Oh yes," Cerberus said with a nod. "He can't control the Grail, not fully, but his presence taints it. It's why Servants like Caster, Gilles de Rais, could be summoned despite his kind not normally able to be summoned should the Grail's safety parameters still be functioning. But the really insidious part of the corruption was revealed to us – the Masters of the fifth war – by Kiritsugu Emiya. Mister Emiya attempted to use the Grail to make his dream of lasting peace a reality…"

"And Avenger attempted to twist it?" Irisviel breathed.

"…yes." Cerberus said, projecting an image of an older, broken, and weary Kiritsugu. "Apparently, with the Grail corrupted, any wish would be twisted to one of complete destruction. Lasting peace was interpreted as the death of every last Human being. Technically peace…the peace of the grave."

"…so what happened?" Irisviel asked. "How did Kiri prevent it?"

Cerberus tapped her omni-tool, bringing up an article on something called the 'Fuyuki Great Fire'. "Mister Emiya responded by using his command spells to order his Servant to destroy the Grail's vessel." She said. "Unfortunately, it was filled with the energies of five fallen Servants. The resulting…explosion, incinerated a large portion of the city and killed countless people. Mister Emiya survived along with Father Kotomine here…"

Cerberus paused and nodded at Kirei. "Though the experience…changed them both." She said.

"No…no…no…no…" Irisviel said, staggering away. "It…it can't be…"

"She is under geis." Tokiomi said with a glare at Irisviel, infuriated at how her family's greed had damned them all. "She must be telling the truth."

Cerberus smiled and bowed, activating her mystic eyes to show their continued presence and thus her abiding by the geis' terms. "That's not all that happened, is it?" Tokiomi asked.

"No, of course not." Cerberus said, again tapping on her omni-tool. "Mister Emiya destroyed the Grail vessel, not the Grail itself. When the Fifth Holy Grail War came…well…maybe it's best if I just showed you…"

Cerberus projected a recording, though she glanced at everyone else. "There are my memories, and as per the geis, is the truth." She said. Eyes turned to the recording, which showed what looked like streams of strange, painful-to-look-at fluid pouring from four directions into a pool of…

…infinitevastundefinedimpossibleunrealfantastic…

Tokiomi and others staggered away, clutching at their eyes. "That pool…" he hissed. "What is it?"

"Yeah…that's where the Avatar of Angra Mainyu arose from…" Cerberus said with an unhappy tone.

And they all watched as fluid falling into the pool drained, the pool itself merging and rising and shaping itself into a humanoid form, the shadows around it turning black and solid as though it was a thing in itself and not just an absence of light. "_Talk to us, Kirei!_" a voice came from the recording, which made Tokiomi jump. He knew that voice: it was his daughter's. And sure enough, Cerberus' memory self turned to look at a pigtailed girl that Tokiomi recognized as an older Rin. "_What's happening?_"

"_I have no answer for you. This is a surprise to me as well._"

The memory then showed Kirei, taller and with longer hair, and looking less dour and more alive than he tended to be. And then the memory turned back to the Avatar of Angra Mainyu manifesting itself…

…and then Irisviel was screaming, as the avatar achieved full existence.

Through Cerberus' memories, her reflection stared at her.

* * *

A/N

Goodbye Zouken. Go to hell where you belong.

Poor Iri…realizing she and her husband failed to win the war and what that means for Illya is bad enough…and then just to rub salt into the wound, she discovers in Cerberus' timeline she's eventually resurrected to become Angra Mainyu's avatar. No doubt Kiri – watching through her eyes after last night's…um, marital relations – is having a BSOD of his own at this time too.


	9. Part IX

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part IX

"What the hell is that?" Tokiomi stared in horror.

"That is the avatar of Angra Mainyu." Cerberus answered. "We're not sure – then or even now – how it was able to regenerate the physical form of the vessel from the fourth war, but it was able to. And it's ultimately academic. The important point was that it was able to do so, and in the process gained access the vessel's abilities."

"…I have a name, you know." Irisviel murmured, still shaking.

"…I apologize if I caused offence." Cerberus said with a nod. "I was only trying to establish a distinction between yourself, and the being which took your form and powers."

"…my powers?"

"You are a replica of Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, the last known wielder of the Third Magic." Cerberus said. "You have her memories, and through them can reconstruct a flawed…echo, of the Third Magic."

"Are you saying that Angra Mainyu was able to use the Third Magic?" Tokiomi asked, aghast.

"A flawed version of it, yes." Cerberus said with a nod. "I'm not entirely certain, but in addition to the distortions caused by the vessel and thus Angra Mainyu's unfamiliarity with the Third Magic, another reason it was flawed was due to Justeaze Lizrich herself having inherited either a flawed or incomplete form of the Third Magic, as opposed to its complete state. But if so, then we should be thankful. If not…well, at the very least, a Counter Force intervention would have resulted. That should tell you what the worst-case scenario would have been had we failed."

No said a word. They all knew what she meant. "How exactly did Angra Mainyu use the Third Magic?" Kirei eventually asked.

Cerberus tapped her omni-tool, and showed a blonde woman that was at once familiar and horrifyingly twisted. Saber gasped in horror, seeing herself with unnaturally pale skin, her green eyes turned to gold, and worst of all, her holy sword had been turned into a twisted mockery of itself, the metal of the blade black with corruption and the fairy letters engraved thereon glowing with ugly red light.

"Angra Mainyu summoned the Saber Class Servant of the previous war." Cerberus said. "Initially she refused to serve such a monster as Angra Mainyu, only for Angra Mainyu to drown her in its very essence, which Kirei Kotomine described as the condensed form of all the World's evil. The result was…I believe Rin Tohsaka described it as 'blackening', and as you can see, the King of Knights was reduced to…that."

Saber's face was filled with horror, and a glance at Irisviel showed the stricken homunculus unwilling to meet her eyes. Nearby, Archer glared at the projection of Saber Alter, mortally-offended at how a dead god wearing a doll's flesh would dare defile a _Human _legend. But for what purpose?

"What was its goal?" he asked.

"In one word, annihilation." Cerberus said before playing another memory, this time of herself and others facing off against Angra Mainyu. They watched as a redheaded boy demanded what Angra Mainyu sought to achieve, and the divine avatar of evil answered.

_This is a diseased world. Humanity has existed for thousands of years, and all it has ever achieved is to add and keep on adding to the list of its sins. An ever-growing list of six billion curses for every individual that has ever existed, and will ever be born. They have no desire to stop, nor to take responsibility for it, instead crying out to gods that no longer exist, or did not care when they did, to take responsibility for them._

_But dead gods neither need listen nor care to listen. All that needs be done is to turn all the world into one, Humanity made to face, accept, and take responsibility for its sins, and fulfilling this vessel's purpose, remake the world into one where none of what came before could ever come again._

"Enough." Archer said, in a tone that brooked no disagreement. Cerberus obeyed, as the King of Heroes rose to his feet. "How was that thing cast down as it should have been?"

Cerberus tapped her omni-tool, and displayed several individuals. First was a white-haired man in black and silver armor, wielding a greatsword, green energy burning from his chest. "This is Siegfried," she said. "The Saber of the Fifth Holy Grail War. It was he who faced down the corrupted form of the King of Knights, and keeping her from interfering with the rest of us in our battle against the God of Evil."

"And?"

Cerberus tapped her omni-tool again, showing this the redheaded boy from before, along with a beautiful, elfin woman in robes of violet, black, and gold. "Shirou Emiya," she said, and causing Irisviel to start. "And his Servant, Medea, the Caster of the Fifth Holy Grail War. Together, they faced down the hordes of demons Angra Mainyu called forth to fight for it."

"Shirou…Emiya…?" Irisviel breathed.

"Kiritsugu Emiya's adopted son," Cerberus explained. "Since you are his wife, I imagine that makes him your adopted son too."

Irisviel looked thoughtful at that, while Cerberus tapped her omni-tool again. This time, the image was of a pigtailed girl in red and black, wielding a dagger with a blade literally carved from a jewel which shone with the colors of the rainbow. "The Jeweled Sword of Zelretch!" Tokiomi said in recognition before grinning. "Rin succeeded in replicating it? And at such a young age? Magnificent…!"

"Yes, well…" Cerberus said with a cough. "Desperation makes for wonderful motivation. The Jeweled Sword allowed her to match Angra Mainyu's access to the Third Magic, though even then it might not have been enough…"

"…but for the flawed or incomplete nature of Angra Mainyu's possession of the Third Magic." Tokiomi said with a nod. "I see…I imagine that's also why Angra Mainyu only summoned one Servant when it could otherwise have summoned many?"

"It seems to be, yes." Cerberus said with a nod. "We also suspect that even with a…theoretically, infinite supply of prana through the Third Magic, the reconstructed vessel's limitations mean the amount of prana that can be channeled and/or used is limited per unit of time. Though even then…"

Cerberus sighed, and showed strange, bestial creatures made of shadow in vast hordes. "Even then," she said. "It still had enough to unleash hordes of the damn things. Even using anti-army spells, Caster and her Master could barely hold them off."

"And what of you, Cerberus?" Archer asked. "Where were you in all this?"

"I destroyed the Grail." Cerberus answered, her eyes glowing. And then she played another memory, of her standing atop a gigantic orb of stone with glowing, golden statuary, cracks oozing with the condensed evil of the world. And then lines seemed to be superimposed over everything in sight, and they watched from her perspective as Cerberus stabbed her sword deep into the lines.

A spectral, unearthly scream filled the air, and then Cerberus ran over the orb's surface, dragging her sword through and along the lines. The screaming continued as she tore through what could only conceptual faults of some kind, the faults opening up not just where she cut, but growing outwards from where she cut, chips of stone flying and evil spraying out as the orb tore itself apart.

Then Cerberus let herself go into free fall, letting gravity itself pull her and her blade down, until she had cut a fault in a full longitude along the orb. The orb began to collapse, falling apart, and spraying and vomiting black mud into the cavern beneath, as Cerberus leapt up onto a ledge and down a tunnel, away from the crumbling, corrupted miracle behind her.

"What was that?" Saber asked.

"That was the Greater Grail." Cerberus answered. "The actual wish machine itself, where Lady Einzbern here is merely the Lesser Grail, the vessel in which the energies of fallen Servants are gathered. Once the energies are gathered, it is fed into the Greater Grail, to power its mysteries."

"And you destroyed it." Tokiomi said. It wasn't a question.

"It was necessary." Cerberus hissed.

There was a moment of silence, and then Tokiomi sighed. "So it was." He admitted.

"Your eyes…" Irisviel began. "Your Mystic Eyes, that is. They're the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, aren't they? That's how you were able to see the Greater Grail's conceptual faults, and how you could cut them."

"…they are." Cerberus admitted after a moment.

"Who was your Servant in the war?" Tokiomi asked.

Cerberus smiled, and then gestured to Assassin, who looked surprised. "Whether it was the fifth war or this one," she said. "My Servants is always this incarnation of the Old Man of the Mountain. Perhaps that says something about me, but I do not care. I am who I am, and I never need run from my nature."

Archer smirked, while Kirei looked troubled. Tokiomi raised an eyebrow while Irisviel and Saber shared glances. "So," Risei asked with a cough. "What do you suggest we do then? Destroy the Greater Grail, as you did in your timeline?"

"That is the solution that worked then," Cerberus said with a nod. "And it might work here and now. But perhaps you might think of a different solution. If you do, then I am all ears."

There was a moment of silence, and then Tokiomi sighed. "We've been given a lot of information." He said. "Information that makes for generous amounts of food for thought. I suggest we adjourn for now, and consider this matter further before making any decisions with regard to the future."

"Yes…" Irisviel agreed. "I…we should think about all this first, before deciding on what to do with the Grail."

Risei nodded in agreement, followed by Kirei, and then Cerberus. Saber looked resigned and forlorn, while Archer just looked amused. "Then," Cerberus said with a slightly-mocking bow. "If there is nothing more, I will take my leave."

Tokiomi looked like he wanted to ask something but couldn't bring himself to say it, and with that Cerberus turned and departed the church.

* * *

"We are being followed." Assassin remarked.

"By who?" Cerberus asked.

"It is the priest." Assassin replied.

"Is that right?" Cerberus asked with a smile.

Changing course, Cerberus made her way to a nearby café, where she ordered drinks and food for three. Taking it to a nearby table, she cast a bounded field around it, and turned to Assassin. "Invite Father Kotomine to join us for lunch." He said.

Assassin raised an eyebrow, but said nothing before going to do as commanded. Minutes later and she returned, accompanied by Kirei. "Ah, Father Kotomine," Cerberus said. "This is an expected pleasure we are honored by your presence."

Kirei raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean 'unexpected' pleasure?" he asked.

"No, expected is correct." Cerberus said while taking a drink of her coffee. "I suspected Tokiomi Tohsaka would have me followed, and he has not disappointed. But I suspect you followed me not simply because you were ordered to, and the same goes for your acceptance of my invitation to join us for this meal."

"…perhaps…"

Cerberus smiled and took another drink. "Did my words from earlier strike a chord?" she asked.

"…it seems they did." Kirei admitted with a sigh. "Very well, I admit I am curious. You told me that your origin is 'death', and your elemental affinity is also 'death', which I assume is the true cause for your possession of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception."

"Yes, and?"

"You said you never need run from your nature…I…I believe those words were meant for me as much as they were to answer Tokiomi's question."

"…they are."

"…why?"

"…as I said, I respected you." Cerberus said after a moment. "I didn't tell them, but you were there in the final battle. You attempted to stop me from reaching the Greater Grail, but for the intervention of Shirou Emiya, who tied you down and allowed me to reach my goal. Yes, you heard that right: you sought to keep me and my allies from preventing Angra Mainyu from achieving its twisted goal."

Kirei looked stricken. "Why?" he asked in a small voice.

"Because it was the right thing to do." Cerberus said. "While the conclusions it drew were…erroneous in the extreme, Angra Mainyu did have a point. The Human race has only ever added evil upon evil in the millennia it has existed, and always put its faith in interested, supernatural beings to take responsibility for them."

"I…see…" Kirei said before taking a deep, hacking breath. "So that's what my counterpart's reasoning was…for Humanity to stop looking away…to face and repent its sins…but…to sacrifice Humanity to that…_thing_? To allow it to remake the world in its image? Why?"

"Again, because it was the right thing to do." Cerberus said. "Your counterpart likened the new world as envisioned by Angra Mainyu as a child about to be born, with Angra Mainyu's avatar as its mother, and the Greater Grail as the womb. And you would not countenance an…unborn, child from having its life taken away before its time."

"…that's…that's just…" Kirei asked, uncomprehending. "The reasoning is…it's correct…but it's twisted…"

"Just like you are." Cerberus said with a smile. "And just like myself as well."

"What do you mean?"

"You are someone who only ever finds enjoyment in the suffering of others, but you are also someone who knows and understands the concept of right and wrong, of good and evil." Cerberus gently said. "That was why your counterpart was always so willing to help, whether us or our enemy, because either way it was the right thing to do. A paradox, isn't it? And that is why I respect him…and I respect you. Because he and you always try to do the right thing"

"Did he?" Kirei hissed. "He…he would have burned the world down…how can such…no…I see his reasoning but…I do not wish to become like him!"

"Indeed you should not."

"What?"

"His mistake was that when he decided to stop running from his nature," Cerberus began. "He didn't so much as overcome it as much as he allowed it to consume him. That is why he was able to twist his reasoning, to apply 'right' and 'good' in technically correct but practically twisted ways."

"…what are you saying?"

Cerberus smiled. "We need not run from our natures, Father Kotomine." She said. "But neither should we allow them to rule us. I _am _death, but I do not kill indiscriminately. You enjoy the suffering of others…but is it so wrong when they _deserve _such suffering? Is there not such a thing as righteous satisfaction, say when justice is brought to bear on one who committed wrong?"

Kirei looked suddenly thoughtful, and Cerberus smiled wider. "We need not run from our natures, Father Kotomine." She repeated while raising her coffee mug in a toast. "We only ever need to come to terms with them."

* * *

In a sitting room at Castle von Einzbern, husband and wife were huddled together, clutching each other tightly. An air of gloom and despair hung heavy in the room, as the realization of their ultimate failure struck hard and heavy. Neither Saber nor Maiya were present, both giving Kiritsugu and Irisviel much needed privacy.

"…could she have been lying?" Irisviel asked.

"Doubtful," Kiritsugu answered. "She was bound by geis. A geis witnessed by Risei Kotomine, apparently. And considering mystic eyes are still tied to the nervous system, that she hadn't gone blind or was bleeding from ruined eye sockets by the end of that meeting shows she was telling the truth."

"…maybe it's a trick."

"I don't see how." Kiritsugu said. "Even if the Kotomines are allied with Tohsaka, considering Edelfelt is pushing for the Grail's destruction, what do they possibly have to gain from this?"

"What do you think?"

"…Edelfelt's solution is probably the only one with any real chance of success." Kiritsugu said after a moment. "Unless Einzbern knows of a way to get Angra Mainyu out of the Grail, then we truly have no choice, otherwise even trying to use it is going to end in disaster."

"Should I contact my father again?"

"He'd probably just say more of the same."

_Irrelevant…proceed with your appointed task, and return the Grail to Einzbern._

"Illya…our Illya…if we don't succeed then…Illya…Illya…"

Irisviel tightened her grip on Kiritsugu's sleeves, the man's face twisting at the thought of his daughter and what Einzbern would do to her if they failed in their given task. "We'll have to find a way." He whispered, his voice nearly breaking. "We have to. If not to win the Grail…then to get our daughter back…"

"…Edelfelt didn't mention anything about her in their world." Irisviel whispered. "I…what happened to her?"

"…as she was also a vessel…then…"

"Kiri," Irisviel whispered. "What do we do?"

"…I don't know." Kiritsugu breathed after a moment, tightening his arms around his wife. "I don't know what to do anymore."

* * *

Cerberus and Assassin strode up towards the Matou mansion, the former raising a hand and smirking as she felt no bounded fields present anymore. "_As expected,_" she thought, as Assassin leaped over the gates and opened them from the inside. "_With Zouken Matou dead, and the existing Matou mysteries so…bound, to him, with his death, they cease to be._"

Inwardly sneering at the so-called arch-magus' incompetence, Cerberus strode unchallenged into the Matou property, up to the front door, and simply kicked them open. "Anybody home?" Cerberus called out.

There was no response, and after a few moments Cerberus and Assassin entered the foyer. They'd barely taken a few steps before the former was dodging a half-empty bottle thrown her way. It smashed against the ground, alcohol spilling amidst the broken glass.

They both looked to the source of the thrown bottle, and stared at an obviously-drunk, violet-haired man leering at them both. "Who're you?" he slurred. "What you doing here? Breaking into my house…ought to call the cops…"

"…right, I forgot he used to be a drunk." Cerberus said with a sigh and palming her face. "Anyway…I'm sure he'll shape up eventually…for now though…"

Taking a deep breath, she stepped closer. "I am Kirsikka Edelfelt." She said. "And by my sword and magic, slayer of Zouken Matou. By the gods of war, justice, and magic, I claim his possessions as my spoils of victory. So I declare."

Byakuya Matou stared, and then burst out laughing. "Pretty speech…" he snickered. "But saying that and…"

Cerberus activated her mystic eyes, and flared out her killing intent for just a fraction of a moment. It was enough to widen Byakuya's eyes, the man falling backwards onto the floor, a wet stain spreading on his trousers.

_Okay, maybe that was a bit too far._

"I see we understand each other." Cerberus said with a smile. "Bring to me the child named Sakura Matou."

Nodding frantically, Byakuya scrambled to his feet and hurried to do as commanded. Before long, he was bringing a dead-eyed girl in a violet dress to Cerberus, who stared at her in horror. "Crest worms…?" she whispered. "This is what they did to her?"

"…I…I couldn't do anything…" Byakuya struggled to excuse himself.

"There was nothing you could have done." Cerberus interrupted with a wave of a hand. "Get your things and get out of here. Take the stock and other papers from the safe, and start over elsewhere. A normal life or whatever, I don't care. The Matou's legacy as magi is dead and gone."

"Right…right!" Byakuya frantically agreed before turning to run and do as he was told. Cerberus however, sank down to Sakura Matou's level, and stared at her in the eyes.

_Gods…her eyes…they're dead…they've completely broken her…_

_And the hair…the feel of her…_

_…this level of alchemical alteration…and…those **things **inside of her…_

Cerberus fought back the urge to growl and unleash her killing intent, unwilling to frighten the child before her. If she could even be frightened anymore, that is.

_She's not even a child or a person anymore. Just a doll._

_Damn that bastard. A quick death was too good for him, but necessary._

_Anything otherwise and he'd have had a chance to escape and recover._

"Do you want to get out of here?" Cerberus asked gently.

Sakura stared at her in incomprehension. And then she shook her head. "I can't." she whispered in a dead voice. "Grandfather will get angry. You can't disobey or fight grandfather. You'll die if you do. Alone…in the dark…eaten by worms…"

Cerberus rose to her feet, her face like stone. "I see." She said. "No…don't worry. I'm not angry at you. And your grandfather is dead. I killed him."

"…he'll be back." Sakura whispered, again in a dead voice. "He'll always come back."

"No, he won't." Cerberus snarled, before turning and placing a hand on Sakura's back, guiding her towards the door and the outside. "You can be sure of that."

"I'm sure."

Cerberus didn't bother to reply, and just typed commands into her omni-tool. The truck they'd used to come here opened its back, mechs jumping out to haul large crates with them to carry into the property. And there was Kirei Kotomine as well.

"Now _this _is an unexpected development." Cerberus said. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question." Kirei asked. "Kidnapping?"

Cerberus chuckled. "Kidnapping?" she echoed. "I prefer to call it rescuing."

"Tokiomi Tohsaka and the courts would disagree."

"Then it's better for them not to know, is it?"

Kirei was silent, and then Cerberus gestured at Sakura. "Look at her Father Kotomine." She said. "You can see the color of her eyes and hair. And you know they weren't like that before. You know they aren't the product of hair dye or colored lenses. You know what's been done to her, and with your training in spiritual surgery, you can feel it as well."

"The Holy Church does not interfere in how magi pursue their quest for the Root," Kirei said. "Nor in how they seek to preserve and advance their lineages. As…abominable, as this might be, in the eyes of magi society, it is simply normal and expected."

"But is it right…?"

Kirei did not answer. "Is it right?" Cerberus repeated, and he sighed.

"No," he said, clenching his fists. "It is not."

"Then there you go."

"But…"

Cerberus interrupted with a hand gesture. "Come with us for a bit," she said. "Get the crest worms out of her, and leave her with me afterwards. In return, I'll prove to you that you have no need to run from your nature, and indeed, you can accept it, while staying true to your beliefs."

She extended a hand as she said those words, and Kirei stared at the offered hand. "Give me a chance," Cerberus asked. "That's all I ask."

Kirei stared, and then made his choice. He took the offered hand.

_Good man._

* * *

The Sun climbed down from the zenith towards the horizon, the white-stained blue of the sky giving way to orange and pink, then turned to dark velvet speckled with white. Having planted thermite charges and magnesium fuses across the house, from the roof to the basement, in every wing from one side to another, in every room, in fact, the mechs boarded the truck and put themselves in storage again. Cerberus tested her long-distance remote detonator, and then put it into a pocket.

Nodding to herself, she started the truck, and proceeded to drive off. "Where are we headed?" Kirei asked beside her.

"To my hideout." Cerberus replied.

"And where might that be?" he asked.

"Ryuudo Temple."

Kirei stared, and Cerberus threw him a smile. After a moment, he chuckled and shook his head. "I see." He said. "An excellent choice of positioning, so much so that I'm surprised no one has ever thought of it before. You have the high ground, and the temple's spiritual defenses provide a bonus to your defense, while forcing approaching enemies to follow a narrow route. More than that, you sit atop the junction of three ley-lines, and all they provide."

"Can't take credit for it," Cerberus said with a shrug. "In the fifth war of my timeline, it was Caster who came up with the idea of basing herself out of the temple. I just followed her example."

"A good example it is."

"Indeed."

"…what are you really planning, Cerberus?" Kirei asked after several moments.

"I'm going to make Tokiomi choose." Cerberus answered, also after several moments.

"Choose?"

"Yes…let's see if he can see and choose what's truly important. Let's see if there's still a Human being beneath that smug and arrogant façade, or if he truly is just a pure, cold-hearted, son of a bitch."

"And then what?"

Cerberus did not answer for a long time. Kirei sighed and sat back, riding in silence until they left the city proper and began to climb up the mountain road. But as they came to a halt at the temple base, Cerberus finally answered.

"It all depends on his choice." Cerberus said. "For you see, the choices will be reward or punishment in themselves."

"I see."

* * *

A/N

As I've said before in other stories of mine, writing Kirei is surprisingly fun. Back then it was his FSN self, and now it's his FZ self, who may or may not become a Punisher-like figure. Terrifying thought there, Kirei as a vigilante doing the dirty work the cops can't (or won't) do.


	10. Part X

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part X

"Sakura!"

Cerberus smiled benignly as Rin jumped up in surprise from where she was sitting, and running over quickly embraced her sister. Sakura however, was all but unresponsive, neither returning Rin's embrace nor responding to Rin's babbled delight at her presence. It was something that Rin quickly noticed, the little girl falling silent and her face twisting with worry. After asking Sakura a few questions and receiving only vague and dispirited replies, Rin angrily turned to Cerberus.

"What did you do to her?" she angrily demanded.

"I saved her." Cerberus replied without hesitation. "Saved her before the creature could finish the job! The same creature your father sold her to without hesitation!"

"…t-t-that can't be…you're lying!"

Cerberus scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Sakura," she said while stepping back through the doorway and priming the bounded fields around the room. "Why don't you tell Rin all about what you've been through while you've been with the Matou? I'll be back in a while, and then we can get those filthy things out of you."

Without waiting for a reply, Cerberus closed the wooden doors, ignoring Rin's demands and banging while turning and walking away. "I assume then," Kirei began. "That since Miss Rin is unwilling to accept your word at face value, you expect her to respond differently to her little sister."

"Yes."

Kirei hummed in thought for a couple of moments. "While I would concede it has a fair chance of success," he began. "Knowing Miss Rin's character, I would still think she would deny Sakura's tale of what has been done to her while in Matou's custody. Indeed, she might even think you've coerced Miss Sakura into telling such a tale to her."

"…I suspect that might be the case." Cerberus admitted with a sigh. "But I've also taken that into account. More importantly, I'm surprised you're not questioning Rin's presence here."

"I am not surprised that you had her in your custody given what I've learned of you in the short time we've known each other." Kirei said. "Though, I assume you took custody of her _after _you dealt with Caster and his Master?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Our own investigations indicated that Miss Rin had been searching for her friend, who was among those kidnapped by Caster." Kirei said. "Said friend upon examination showed traces of mental interference, though it quickly became academic once you came forward with your claim on the reward for Caster's death. Going back to Miss Rin however, it was already suspected that one or another Master had taken custody of her as a potential hostage, though which specific Master had yet to be discovered at the time."

Cerberus hummed in mixed amusement and thought. "Seeing as Rin was chasing after Caster and his Master," she said. "Wasn't I under suspicion?"

"You were." Kirei admitted. "More so than others, and indeed one reason why I was following you on Master Tokiomi's orders."

"Other reasons being?"

"You are Edelfelt." Kirei answered. "Master Tokiomi considers you to be the most dangerous magus in this contest, save for Lord El-Melloi. And you possess the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. More information is required, regardless of how…meaningless, this contest has become."

"Ah…and yet here you are, turning your cloak."

Kirei was silent for a long moment, until they reached an empty room. "Given your actions in putting down a God-forsaken monster," he answered. "Showing mercy and giving advice to said monster's slave-descendant to start over with, and rescuing an innocent child unjustly cast out to torment, I am inclined to give you the chance to prove yourself that you asked of me earlier. Furthermore, I joined this war to find answers to my questions regarding my nature. Answers I suspect Tokiomi cannot give me, and which you might have in part."

"I see…then I'm happy to have helped."

Kirei smiled slightly and gave a small nod. "And you have my thanks." He said before rubbing his chin in thought. "I believe this room will be sufficient to perform spiritual surgery in. However, I will need more light, and a high table to serve as a makeshift gurney. And given what is known about Matou magecraft…"

"Leave that to me." Cerberus said with a nod, and walked off leaving Kirei in bemused silence.

* * *

About twenty minutes later and the operating room was ready. Cerberus had brought in a portable table, which she'd padded with mattresses and sheets from other rooms, while Assassin had set up portable halogen lights. Another, smaller table had also been brought in, on which metal containers filled with alcohol were set. Instruments of various kinds had been selected by Kirei from those Cerberus possessed, and those were sterilized by means of boiling followed by an alcohol bath.

With the preparations done, Cerberus returned to where she'd left Rin and Sakura…

…and upon opening the door, was immediately attacked by a tearful and near-hysterical Rin. "You messed with Sakura's mind!" she screamed, kicking and punching at Cerberus. "You made her say bad things about daddy and his friend! You're trying to use her against me! It won't work! It won't! It…!"

Cerberus bopped Rin on the head, and then picked her up by the scruff of her neck. "Piece of advice, Rin." She said, her eyes cold. "Don't make accusations you can't back up with evidence. Others won't be as forgiving as I am, magus or not. And since you don't want to believe even your own sister, I think it's time we _made _you see. Father Kotomine…?"

"I shall handle Miss Rin." Kirei said with a nod, and appearing from behind Cerberus.

"Mister Kirei?" Rin gasped in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"What I must," he answered. "And the right thing to do. Now come."

Taking Rin's hand, Kirei led her away, while Cerberus approached Sakura. "Hey, Sakura," she gently said, while sinking down to where Sakura was silently sitting. "Let's go. We'll get those worms out of you, and then everything will start getting better."

For several long moments, Sakura did not reply. "You don't have to." She finally said. "Grandfather will just put them back in when he comes back."

"…no, he won't."

"He will."

Sighing, Cerberus gently helped Sakura to her feet, the little girl offering no resistance. She didn't resist either as she was guided to the operating room, where Kirei had taken off his habit and was rolling up the sleeves of the white shirt he wore beneath. Cerberus sealed the room, and activated the bounded fields she and Kirei had put in place beforehand.

"Now then," she said. "Sakura, we need you to take off your clothes."

"Hey wait!" Rin loudly protested from where she was sitting. "You can't make Sakura take off her clothes in front of strangers, or even Mister Kirei! That's not right!"

"It's alright, Tohsaka." Sakura said, as she began to remove the purple dress she wore, surprisingly (or not) wearing no underwear beneath. "It doesn't matter."

Rin could only stare in horror, while Cerberus' face was like stone, her eyes blazing like stars on a cold, winter night. That Sakura's flesh appeared pristine and untouched could not deceive her eyes, and she could see the horror inflicted upon them.

"…what are you going to do?" Rin demanded in a small voice.

"We are going to remove the worms that bastard your father sold her to put in her." Cerberus said, as she helped Sakura up and to lie down.

"…you should stop. It's not working, and I know you're lying so…"

"Miss Cerberus is most certainly not lying." Kirei said while disinfecting his hands with alcohol. "The Matou truly do put parasitic worms inside their bodies as part of their training and _as _their magecraft. That this is torturous even by magi standards is also true, as is the fact the worms use any means necessary to enter the body, be it the mouth or other orifices, or by simply eating their way into the body."

"No…no…NO!" Rin screamed, putting her hands over her ears. "YOU'RE LYING! DADDY WOULD NEVER…!"

"He would." Kirei coldly said, as he approached the operating table. "Indeed, he saw it as simply a bigger than normal price that must be paid regardless, so your sister can become a magus. I would disagree but…I had no say in the matter, at least until now."

"If you don't want to believe in our words," Cerberus just as coldly added. "Then watch and see, as we take out the worms _your father's friend _put in her."

At those words, Cerberus turned to Kirei, and nodded. The priest nodded back, and began the operation to remove the worms. Rin watched in horrified silence, as Kirei cut Sakura's body open and began removing black, fanged worms writhing and squirming, one after another, drowning them with reinforced alcohol, their bodies piling up in the receptacles over the following hour and a half. Even more horrifying was how Sakura didn't even flinch or cry out as she lay cut open on the operating table, her blood and ichor splattering out to stain Cerberus and Kirei's clothes as well as the sheets and mattresses she was on.

It was as though she was used to incredible pain, to her body being violated and torn apart, just like she herself had told to Rin at Cerberus' behest.

Twice Rin had to be taken out by Assassin to vomit, and twice she was brought back, and forced to watch as Cerberus and Kirei removed the parasites from her sister's body. By the time they had all been removed, the receptacles were filled to overflowing, and only then did Cerberus and Kirei begin putting Sakura back together. "To think the worms transferred their…allegiance, to her on Makiri's demise." Cerberus said in disgust. "So that's how they survived."

"Quite adaptable, indeed." Kirei said with a nod. "Though I imagine you don't regret removing them, do you?"

"I certainly do not. Do you?"

"I do not. Though Master Tokiomi might see it as a waste of an opportunity."

"Damn him and his opinions." Cerberus spat. "This is all his fault, and there's no denying it!"

"Indeed there is none."

On being put back together, Cerberus and Kirei wiped Sakura clean, and then helped the exhausted child into fresh clothes. And as Kirei and Assassin escorted her to a prepared bedroom, Cerberus confronted Rin.

"Well?" she asked with arms crossed over her chest.

Rin sniffed, and shook her head. "I...I…I don't know…what to believe anymore…" she said.

Cerberus was silent for a long moment, and then she nodded. "It's a start." She said.

* * *

"So," Tokiomi began, come following morning after Kirei arrived to report his findings. "What have you uncovered, Kirei?"

"Yes, master." Kirei said with a bow. "I have uncovered Kirsikka Edelfelt's lair. Surprisingly, unlike her predecessors from the previous contest, she has chosen not to base herself in a…proper, residence, instead opting to base herself at the temple complex atop Mount Enzo."

Tokiomi blinked in surprise, and then his eyes widened in realization. "Ryuudo Temple?" he asked. "I see! An inspired choice for a stronghold, and an obvious one in hindsight! Quite perplexing too, how none until the present have chosen to base themselves at such a natural fortress as the temple complex!"

Kirei stayed silent as Tokiomi waxed eloquent on the virtues of Ryuudo Temple as a base of operations. Revealing Cerberus' lair was something she had agreed to allow Kirei to report to Tokiomi, a significant risk to be sure, but one she admitted needed to be taken.

"Is there anything else you would report, Kirei?" Tokiomi asked.

"There is none." Kirei said with a small bow. "I apologize, but as you say, Mount Enzo and the temple above is a natural fortress."

"Hmm…indeed…disappointing, but understandable."

It was _technically _true. Kirei had nothing else he intended to report, and his apology for keeping things from his master was genuine. Ryuudo Temple also _was _a natural fortress. Now, if Tokiomi had phrased his question differently, things might be different…

…but he had not, and that was that.

"With regard to the Grail, though…" Kirei began, in an attempt to move the topic of the conversation to another matter. It was fairly transparent, but Tokiomi took it at face value, given how serious the issue was in comparison to all others.

"Unfortunately, it does seem as though we have no choice but to destroy the Greater Grail." Tokiomi said with clenched fists, and causing Kirei to blink at the show of genuine anger from the usually cool and unflappable man. "Damn the Einzbern and their greed…"

"You have reservations, master?" Kirei asked.

Tokiomi didn't answer at once, reclining in his seat to compose himself. "We will have to consider the _how _carefully." He said. "Angra Mainyu doesn't seem the kind to just sit by and watch as we try to keep it from achieving its goals, much less destroy it. And we have not the Jeweled Sword of Zelretch should it manifest an avatar, much like it would have in Cerberus' world."

"Then…"

Tokiomi raised a hand. "As I said," he began. "We will need to consider the matter further. I'll attempt to speak with the Matou, though my familiars have received no reply from Zouken on my attempts to open communications."

"I see." Kirei said, and making a mental note to inform Cerberus of how Tokiomi was trying to get in touch with Matou, and risking exposure of the events which had transpired therein.

"…get in touch with Einzbern," Tokiomi was saying. "And Lord El-Melloi as well. The former is only to be expected, and the latter might be able to provide insight and other contributions."

"Indeed," Kirei agreed with a nod. "Should I attempt to make contact?"

"No," Tokiomi said with a smile. "I shall handle this myself. Let's not advertise the…friendly, relationship between my family and the church. It could prove problematic in the future."

"As you say, master."

Tokiomi nodded. "Instead," he said. "I want you to attempt to make contact with Matou in person, and get an explanation of why they haven't been receiving my familiars, or answering my – or your father's for that matter – requests for a meeting. And of course, continue the search for my daughter."

Kirei bowed. "It shall be as you say, master." He said, and Tokiomi nodded.

* * *

"There's been an interesting development."

"Oh? What's it about?"

Kirei was meeting Cerberus at Ryuudo Temple, the latter with her sleeves rolled up while doing maintenance work on her _wakizashi_. The sound of steel scraping against a wet ground stone had Kirei's teeth on edge, though Cerberus stopped soon enough.

"Apparently Master Tokiomi has been trying to get in touch with Zouken Matou." Kirei said. "Seeing as you've disposed of the latter, as might be imagined, he hasn't been getting any response. I suspect you would not want events which have transpired at the Matou property from being discovered at this point, so I thought you would want to know."

"Hmm…anything else?"

"Master Tokiomi has tasked with me making contact in person." Kirei said. "And obtain…answers, with regard to the lack of a response."

"I see." Cerberus said with a nod. "Well, knowing you, you won't lie."

"Such is the Lord's command, yes." Kirei said with a nod. "I will obey."

"But…you _would _be selective in the answers you would give, so long as they fit the loopholes in the questions asked, wouldn't you?"

Kirei didn't answer, while Cerberus examined her _wakizashi_'s blade. "Seeing as I've taken custody of Sakura Matou," she said. "And Byakuya Matou – who with Makiri's death has become _de facto _head of his clan – personally gave her to me, it can be argued that I am _de facto _Matou's representative."

"…I suppose you are." Kirei conceded after a moment's thought.

"Then," Cerberus said with a smile. "Inform Tokiomi that we…apologize, for not being able to respond. However, issues have arisen in other territories under our responsibility, and as such we've gone to examine them. Sakura has also been brought along the better to see for herself her…inheritance, and while the issue about the Grail is troubling, we're currently indisposed. Tokiomi can act as he sees fit, in his capacity both as Second Owner and as the leader of a founding family. Oh, and he's granted authority to invoke Matou's name, if only for the sake of a quorum among the founding families."

"…virtually all of that is an untruth." Kirei remarked.

"Yes…but, _I _am the one speaking the untruths. Not you."

Kirei still didn't look convinced. "And I would be spreading them." He said.

"Are you?" Cerberus asked. "Just say 'Matou's representative has answered that…' and add to that what I've just said, and technically you'd be telling the truth."

"…I'll consider it." Kirei said with a sigh. "If I cannot bring myself to answer as you asked me to, I'll just have to improvise."

"Hmm…well, I think I can trust you in case it comes to that."

"I am grateful." Kirei said with a small bow. "Speaking of which, where are the children?"

Cerberus waved off in a general direction. "Playing over there." She said. "Assassin is watching them. I think I'll let Rin settle a bit before proceeding with the plan. The next couple of phases need to be done quickly. You'll see why soon enough, I am sure."

Kirei said nothing, merely narrowing his eyes even as Cerberus resumed work on her _wakizashi_.

* * *

Later that night, Cerberus was sleeping soundly when a thunderclap and a short but powerful shake of the ground woke her suddenly. At the same time, mental alarms were going off, and cursing to herself, Cerberus rushed to her makeshift armory while issuing mental commands.

Meanwhile at the gate grounds of the temple complex, Rider and Waver stood in the former's chariot, Servant and Master looking on with curiosity and apprehension as tactical cloaks shimmered into inactivity. The automated turrets they'd hidden from sight came to life as they did so, tripods extending upwards before barrels extended forwards, mechanisms whining as safeties were released and 7.62x51mm NATO rounds were chambered.

No shots were fired as of yet, but Rider and his Master were standing at the crossfire point, and while the machine guns would never be able to damage Rider, his Master was entirely another matter. And Waver knew it, the boy shrinking down as he realized the sheer scale of the firepower leveled in his face.

Rider however, just looked impressed. "Come now, Cerberus." He called at the top of his lungs. "Your choice of location was quite inspired, and your defenses impressive. But, I am not here to fight. And seeing as you haven't turned your contraptions against us, I can see you're willing to speak first."

"So I am." Cerberus said, jumping down from a rooftop to land behind Waver and Rider. She held out her left hand, omni-tool glowing and ready to fire a bolt of plasma to incinerate Waver down to the bone with if necessary. "Rider…Lord El-Melloi II…what are you two doing here?"

Rider grinned and loudly thumped the two barrels sitting in the chariot with him and Waver. "Why to do battle, of course!" he said. "Not with swords or other weapons, but with wine!"

"…what?"

"You might recall how in the past I claimed to be willing to negotiate." Rider answered. "Well, let us do just that! I have extended invitations to others, and while I hope they answer positively, I am almost certain you would."

"And what makes you think that?"

"Your actions back when we stood on that battlefield near the docks." Rider said with crossed arms. "From those alone, I can see you as someone who would respect and indeed, _welcome _the truce of and participate in parley with which to resolve a conflict, without the need for blood to be spilled."

"…speaking of blood spilled, it's too late now. I killed Caster's Master, and Assassin killed him."

"Seeing as how he was going after children I'd say it's a most just death."

There was a long moment of silence, and then Cerberus glanced behind her. For several more moments there was only the gentle wind blowing through the trees, and then Assassin materialized as Saber and Irisviel appeared, climbing up the temple stairs and passing through the gates.

"Lady Einzbern," Cerberus said, eyes narrowed. "Here to take part in Rider's little get-together?"

"That is so." Saber answered for herself and Irisviel.

There was another moment of silence, and then with a sigh Cerberus deactivated her omni-tool. "Alright," she said. "If this is how it's going to be, then let's get to it."

Rider grinned with satisfaction.

* * *

"We should be thankful the bounded fields I've set up all over this place are keeping us from being noticed by everyone else living here." Cerberus grumbled while sitting on a rock, the whole party gathered in a Zen garden. "We're making quite the ruckus."

"That is a good point." Rider said with a nod, while setting the barrels down. "You have my thanks, Cerberus. I'm not really the kind to hold back, and while I see the need to keep things secret, I wish it were otherwise. So again, my thanks for such consideration."

"Um…you're welcome…?"

"More importantly," Waver piped up. "Don't you think you're a bit…underdressed?"

Cerberus raised an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?" she asked.

To be specific, Cerberus wore only a black sports bra and a matching pair of shorts, a hollowed-out, golden hexagon in the middle of her chest adding a lone touch of color to her clothes. Besides that, she wore nothing else, showing off her well-exercised but clearly well-endowed body for all the world to see.

And while Waver had a healthy appreciation for the female body…

…it wasn't really appropriate to advertise it. _Especially _when the female body belonged to a magitech assassin who could probably gut him in the blink of an eye.

"Not from what I can see." Rider answered. "Warrior women were rare in my day and age, but the few times I encountered them…you'd fit right in, Cerberus."

"Thanks…I think."

Waver fidgeted but said nothing. "Uncomfortable, Lord El-Melloi II?" Cerberus asked.

"Stop calling me that!" Waver snapped. "I don't know where you got the idea, but I'm not related to…well, um, that guy."

"Not yet."

"…huh?"

"She's from an alternate timeline." Irisviel cut in. "I imagine in that timeline, you eventually got adopted into the El-Melloi. A branch member, maybe?"

"Branch member?" Cerberus echoed. "Well, yeah, after the fourth war in my home timeline, he was adopted by the El-Melloi, though not as a branch member. He became the brother of the El-Melloi heiress, hence Lord El-Melloi _II_. That is, her second-in-command."

Rider whistled and then laughed while striking a gaping Waver on the back. "Looks like you've certainly made your way up in the world, boy!" he said with a grin.

"But that's…" Waver gasped out. "That's not…how…what?"

Cerberus sighed, and activating her omni-tool, projected a hologram. Everyone else watched from her perspective, Waver's mouth again falling open at what was clearly him (albeit with very long hair) grumpily regarding Cerberus.

"_Finished the job?_" Lord Waver El-Melloi II asked.

"_Of course._" Cerberus' memory-self answered, the hologram showing a pair of men in a heavier version of the armor she wore walk forward. They had weapons holstered at their left hip, and they carried a round container with them. Lord El-Melloi II wrinkled his nose.

"_God…Miss Matou, is that what I think it is?_" he asked.

Cerberus winced as eyes turned accusingly in his direction. "Matou?" Irisviel, Waver, Saber, and Rider asked in unison.

"Whoops…" Cerberus said with a weak laugh before turning serious. "That was…a mistake. Anyway…look, something's happening!"

Eyes turned back to the hologram as a beautiful, blonde woman in a dark-colored dress appeared, and whose face bore quite the resemblance to Kayneth. "Who's that?" Waver asked.

"Your sister," Cerberus answered. "And Lord Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald's as well, Lady Reines El-Melloi Archisorte."

"…wait…so…I…Kayneth…EEEEEEEEEEH?"

Faces then twisted in disgust as Reines opened the container, and with a satisfied smile pulled out a severed head, its pale flesh visibly starting to rot, but the expression of agonized terror still visible on its face. "_Ah…very well done, Miss Matou._" Reines said with a matching tone of satisfaction. "_My brother here shall see to it that your fee shall be paid. And a bonus of course, for bringing us such a wonderful gift._"

"_Reines, that's a man's head!_"

"_Better that than a foot._" Reines scoffed. "_Or for that matter, the whole body. What am I supposed to do with either of those, hmm? The head though…yes…plenty of possibilities…we can work with this._"

"_Matou…did you have to do this?_"

"_You asked for proof._" Cerberus' memory-form answered snippily. "_If you didn't want me to bring the head, then you should have been more specific! And from the look of things, Lady El-Melloi doesn't seem to mind._"

"_Indeed I do not._" Reines answered before stepping down with equal parts elegance and warning on Lord El-Melloi II's foot, the man wincing but clearly knowing better than to try and get away. "_You have fulfilled all expectations, Miss Matou. Thank you._"

Waver looked really unhappy as Cerberus cut the projection, and noticing this, Cerberus smirked. "Whipped!" she said and Waver paled.

"Please tell me I didn't marry that woman!" he desperately burst out.

"No…though the gossip in the Clock Tower has her apparently trying to get you to marry one of her cousins."

Waver whimpered while clutching his head, Rider laughing hard while Irisviel struggled not to laugh at how darkly-comedic Clock Tower life tended to be at times. "Bringing a man's head to show proof of his demise," Archer's voice came then, as the man appeared in a shower of gold. "I like your style, Cerberus."

"You have my thanks, King of Heroes." Cerberus said with a nod.

Archer didn't bother to respond one way or another, instead merely walking over to disinterestedly observe the gathering closer. "And?" he said. "What did you want to speak about, Rider, that you would drag us out all the way out here?"

* * *

A/N

Rin finally gets it. Took her long enough.

And we get to one of the best parts of FZ, Rider's banquet. Will it go as it did in canon? Maybe, maybe not, we shall see soon enough. On another note, poor Waver. Whether it's Kayneth or Reines, he's always doomed to be El-Melloi's overqualified and (seemingly) unappreciated top flunky.


	11. Part XI

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part XI

Rider's response was to bash open one of the barrels sitting next to him, the giant Servant himself sitting on the ground but still large enough to tower over everyone else sitting. And then taking a ladle, he scooped out some wine, and raised it to his mouth to drink. "The Grail is meant for the one worthiest of it." He began. "And the battle in this city is meant to determine who that person should be. But, as a means of selection it involves too much unnecessary fighting. If all Heroic Spirits involved simply acknowledged each other according to their appropriate rank, then the matter will sort itself out."

Archer looked at Cerberus with a raised eyebrow. "He hasn't been told?" he asked.

"Eh…I haven't had the chance to do so yet." Cerberus apologetically said, scratching her head.

Archer smiled indulgently and shook his head. "No matter," he said. "Let this play out for a time, it is amusing in its own way."

Rider raised his eyebrows and grunted in curiosity, but after a moment he just smiled and shrugged. "Well, whatever it is you're talking about, I'm sure I'll be told soon enough." He said. "I can wait. For now, what say you, fellow heroes?"

There was a moment of silence. And then Saber held out an armored hand, and with a grin Rider filled the ladle before handing it to her. "So," she began before taking a drink. "You would compare our ranks against each other?"

"Precisely," Rider said with a nod. "All of us here have a place on the Throne of Heroes, and three of us here are royalty, who should set an example for others to follow. Therefore, during this night, we should hold a discussion instead of fighting a war, don't you think? The matter of who is meant to hold the Grail…let us decide it over a friendly drink, without unnecessary bloodshed and humiliation."

"…a banquet of heroes…" Archer said with a sigh, before looking around in distaste. "Amidst a garden of dead and silent gods…this is a jest in poor taste…"

"Come now, don't say that." Rider said, taking back the ladle and filling it before offering it to Archer. "Here, have a drink first."

Archer accepted the offered ladle, and taking a whiff wrinkled his nose in disgust. "What is this swill?" he retorted. "Do you truly intend to discuss matters of heroism over that?"

"Do you really think so?" Rider said, taking the ladle back before drinking it himself. "This was among the best I could find at the marketplace."

"That is because you are ignorant of true drink, pretender!" Archer snapped. At those words, golden portals opened, one of them dropping golden cups into Archer's hands, which he tossed to the Servants present, all of whom caught them deftly. The other portal gently deposited a golden jar into the middle of the gathering, Waver and Irisviel alike recoiling at the strong smell coming from the jar, Cerberus whistling in a similar vein. "Behold and acknowledge your folly! This is the drink of a true king and hero!"

"Splendid indeed!" Rider gleefully said while filling his cup and those of others before taking a drink. "Delicious!"

Saber and Assassin alike stared in amazement at what they had drunk, the finest vintages of Britain and the Caliphate alike posing no contest against Archer's prized vintage. "Whether it is weapons or the good things in life," Archer said with a smile, and swirling the wine in his cup. "Only the finest have a place in my treasury. This alone should be proof of who the greatest among us is."

"Now," Rider said while refilling his cup. "While I must concede defeat in this contest of drink, the Holy Grail is no drinking cup. So come now, share with us your wish for the Grail."

Archer chuckled and shook his head. "Regardless of truths yet to be shared," he said with a smile. "The Holy Grail War is a farce. You already know who I am, and based on that fact alone, the Grail belongs to me, just like every last one of the world's treasures, all of which trace their origins back to my treasury."

"So you're saying you once held the Holy Grail?" Rider excitedly asked. "So you know what it's exactly like?"

"No."

There was silence and expressions of surprise at that, though Archer looked displeased. "Do not deign to judge this matter based on your standards." He said. "The wealth of my treasury is greater than my own knowledge. Just the sheer fact that something is treasure makes it mine. That's simply how it is. And anyone who would dare take something from me, is nothing more than a brazen thief."

"How arrogant," Saber observed with narrowed eyes. "To consider something to be yours simply because it is coveted by others? Were it not for greater concerns facing us…!"

"Now, now," Rider quickly intervened. "Keep in mind who golden boy here really is. With that in mind, it isn't too hard to understand why he thinks the way he does. That said Archer, are you saying we only need your consent to hold the Grail?"

"Finally," Archer said with a chuckle. "You understand. However, I have no desire to allow pretenders much less mongrels to hold the Grail."

"Ah…selfish, aren't you?"

"Fool," Archer scoffed. "Only my subjects are worthy of my generosity. If you would submit to me, then perhaps I can spare a cup or two."

Rider laughed. "That's impossible!" he said. "But, Archer…you have no real desire for the Grail, do you?"

There was a moment of silence, and then Archer took a drink. "Of course I don't." he said in a matter-of-fact way. "I simply deliver judgment on those who dare covet my treasures. It is merely a matter of principle."

"I assume then that's your Way of the King, Archer?"

Archer gave a grudging smile of approval. "You assume correctly." He said. "I am the king. I set down the laws to be obeyed by the people, and any who would break them are to be punished accordingly. Such is my duty, and my privilege."

"A magnificent way," Rider conceded while emptying his cup and then refilling it. "But, I covet the Grail too much. What's more, I'm the King of Conquerors."

Archer chuckled and shook his head, in a way that was almost sad. "It doesn't matter." He said, veiled sadness audible in his voice. "If you break the law, I must and will punish you."

"Then unfortunately, it seems we must inevitably cross blades." Rider regretfully said. "But at the very least, let us finish this drink and discussion among heroes before we fight to the death."

Archer scoffed. "But of course," he said. "Or do you belittle this drink I have granted you?"

Rider laughed before turning to Assassin. "Assassin," he began. "You are no king whose path we can discuss, but you are still a Heroic Spirit. You are manifest in this contest, so at the very least let us hear your desire."

There was a long moment of silence, and then reaching up, Assassin removed her mask, exposing the beautiful face beneath. Even Archer raised an eyebrow at the features thus exposed, while Rider whistled and then raised his cup in a toast.

"In my order," Assassin began. "It was customary for those who took the name, title, rank, position, and authority of the Old Man of the Mountain to carve off their faces, to represent the sacrifice of their individual identity to the greater figure they became. Eighteen of us there ultimately were who took up that mantle, and only once has that custom been waived."

"And you are that exception." Rider observed.

"Yes." Assassin said before closing her eyes. "The Old Man of the Mountain must be the greatest of their generation, whose skills in the art of death surpass all others in their day and age. But while I sacrificed my identity, the customary ablation would have…crippled, my skills. And so that portion of the sacrifice was waived, and I and I alone among those who have led my order kept my face, if not the rest of my identity."

Rider hummed and looked sad as he came to a realization. "You were a seductress, weren't you?" he asked.

"I was…and I still am." Assassin said while briefly closing her eyes. "Perhaps you might have heard the old saying how a pretty face and a sweet voice are many a man's downfall? Even I cannot count how many times I have proven such an adage true."

Assassin paused and chuckled. "Enamored by my appearance and what pleasures my body and voice promised them," she continued. "I would work my way to their side, lulling their sense of self-preservation and those of their retainers to meaninglessness, and then with a single kiss, a gesture of false love, I would end their lives. Peacefully, for the most part…a quiet and painless fading away to eternal sleep…but death still for all that."

"But…?"

Assassin was silent for several long moments, and then she emptied her cup. "I simply wonder," she said. "What it is like to truly love someone. Or indeed, if I am capable of doing so, or if another can love one such as myself."

Rider hummed and seemed to be disappointed. "Do you truly think the Grail can give you an answer?" he asked. "An answer that you can truly be satisfied with?"

Assassin chuckled and shook her head. "Of course not," she said. "I remain the Old Man of the Mountain. Such a position cannot be gained without having some measure of wisdom, in one form or another, beforehand."

"And yet you still wish for such from the Grail?" Rider gently asked.

"Yes." Assassin said. "When all is said and done, I am still Human. Not the most admirable, not by a very long shot, but still Human for all that. I am not perfect. So while I rationally know that what I seek cannot truly be granted by the Grail, some part of me deep down, yearns that it would."

Assassin chuckled again, and shaking her head, replaced her mask. "You have my answer, King of Conquerors." She said. "A base wish for a base hero."

Rider said no words, but with a sad smile refilled Assassin's cup, a sign of respect and sympathy at her implied concession of her inferior worth. Archer said nothing, nor did Saber, which was likely the closest they would come to agreeing with the King of Conquerors' intent.

"What of you, King of Conquerors?" Assassin asked after taking a sip from her refilled cup. "What is your wish?"

Rider smiled, and then emptied his cup before answering. "Incarnation." He said, and causing all other Servants and Masters present to draw back in surprise.

Well, most of them, as Waver instead ran forward with a shout of surprise, grabbing and shaking Rider's shoulder. "Hey!" he yelled. "Wasn't your wish supposed to be world conquest?"

Rider just shook Waver off. "Idiot," he growled. "What's the point of conquering the world if the Grail does all the work for me? All I need from it is the means to make it possible!"

"Rider," Archer growled. "Are you truly planning to use the Grail for such a self-serving purpose?"

"Indeed I do!" Rider thundered, not with anger, but determination. "Prana gives us form in this world, and abilities beyond the greatest of living men! But in the end, this life is false and incomplete! If to be reborn once more as a Human being requires I sacrifice all I have as a Heroic Spirit, then so be it! I would consider it cheap to be given the chance to conquer Heaven and Earth once more, no matter what obstacles lie before me! That is what it means to be the King of Conquerors! That is my Way of the King!"

"Rider," Archer said with a dangerous voice and a light in his eyes, along with an eager smile. "I've made my decision. I will kill you myself, be it sooner or later."

Rider laughed, and refilling his cup toasted Archer with a smile. "I'm looking forward to it." He said. "Just don't forget, if I win, I'm planning to take that treasury of yours."

Archer just laughed, and returned the toast. Saber however, regarded them all neutrally, and then taking a drink from her cup, spoke up. "That is not what a king is meant to be." She said.

"Oh?" Rider began, turning in Saber's direction. "Then let's hear your wish, King of Knights."

"My wish is to save my homeland." Saber softly answered. "It is to alter Britain's fate, and thus avert its destruction."

There was a moment of silence. "Hey," Rider uncertainly began. "Did you just say you would change what has been recorded in history? That you would…unmake, the past?"

"Yes…if the Grail could grant it…then…"

Archer began to laugh, weakly at first, and then letting his cup rest on the ground, threw his head back and laughed at the top of his lungs. "But," Rider incredulously continued. "Britain fell under your reign, did it not?"

"Exactly!" Saber insisted. "Such is my burden, my obligation, and my responsibility!"

Archer only laughed harder at her words, causing Saber to angrily turn on him. "Archer, why do you laugh?" she demanded. "What amuses you so?"

"You call yourself a king…and are remembered as such by the world…" Archer struggled to answer. "And yet you call it a burden? How can I not laugh?"

"Saber!" Rider gravely began. "Are you saying then that you regret the role you have played in history?"

"Yes, I do!" Saber admitted. "And what is so wrong about it? What makes you laugh about it? The kingdom which I gave everything to lead and protect was destroyed! Is it so wrong to desire to change that?"

"Can you hear, Rider?" Archer gleefully said. "Even you, Assassin? She gave everything, she says!"

"I understand how you feel, King of Knights." Assassin began. "In particular, what you said about feeling responsible for the fall of your kingdom. I understand very well, for I too failed in what was expected of me as the Old Man of the Mountain. A momentary weakness…a lapse in judgment…and with it, my reign came to an ignominious end. As it should: I failed, and therefore I must take responsibility."

"And yet," Saber breathed. "You would disagree with my wish?"

"I would." Assassin said. "You are not taking responsibility. You are fleeing from it, seeking to avoid it, by making it so the past never happened. But, where is the justice in that?"

"You dare speak to me of justice?" Saber snarled, rising to her feet. "A seductress who ensnared men with lies and false pretenses, before taking their lives away with vile and dishonorable means? A killer who brought death in exchange for gold? You have no right to judge, Old Man of the Mountain!"

"Enough, Saber." Rider said. "Instead, tell us of your Way of the King, that we might understand your desire."

"My Way of the King is simple." Saber began, before speaking and gesturing passionately. "The king must be willing to sacrifice of himself, no matter how much, for the sake of his kingdom!"

"No, Saber." Rider said with a shake of his head. "The king cannot sacrifice of himself. It is the kingdom and people who sacrifice themselves for the king, not the other way around."

"What?" Saber gasped in shock, before rallying. "Those are the words of a tyrant!"

"Yes, they are." Rider agreed to her even greater shock. "And that is why we tyrants are also called heroes, because only then were we able to leave our marks on history and in the hearts and minds of men. More than that, for a king to consider his kingdom a burden…how foolish. It is to be even less than a tyrant!"

"King of Conquerors," Saber breathed. "Your death resulted in your heirs slain, and your realm divided into warring kingdoms that quickly vanished into the sands of time. Are you saying you have no regrets?"

"None!" Rider answered, and causing Saber to reel back in shock. "Nations rise and fall, and my realm was no exception. If its fate was to fall with me, then so be it. I mourn it. I would even weep for it. But I do not regret it!"

"But…!"

"Nor will I attempt to change its fate!" Rider interrupted with a roar. "To do so would shame everyone who stood by me in my reign!"

"There is no meaning to be found in destruction!" Saber rallied. "What is a king if he cannot protect his people? A just reign…just laws…those are what a king should strive to leave behind!"

"So you are a king who is a slave to what is just?"

"It matters not." Saber answered with a shake of her head. "A king should be willing to give all for his ideals."

"That is no way to live." Rider growled.

"A king cannot live as just another person." Saber countered. "How could you possibly understand, you who would use the Grail for your own benefit? Who sacrificed your own people for the sake of your ambition!"

"A king with no ambition is no true king!" Rider angrily roared. "He is not even worth calling a figurehead! Saber, you would give everything for the sake of your ideals. In life, you must truly have been seen as admirable. Noble and someone to look up to, indeed…but could happiness be found on such a path that denies the self? Would your people dream of such a fate?"

A cold wind blew as Saber couldn't find an answer. "A king must be greedier, happier, and angrier than everyone else." Rider continued. "He is everything the people must want to be, be it for good or evil. That is the reason why all love or hate him. Only then can he inspire and lead them to greater heights. King of Knights…your nobility and ideals served you well when you sought to protect your people. But what happened when you were no longer there to protect them?"

Saber couldn't answer. "You saved your people." Rider continued. "But you never led them. You never showed them what a king should be. And in your absence, they knew not to whom they should look to for leadership. All because your pretty ideals didn't recognize their needs. You are no king. You're just a little girl dreaming of things you cannot be."

"King of Knights," Assassin began a few moments. "While I would say that the King of Conquerors has a point, I would also say that he is too harsh. So instead, I would ask you a question."

"…what is it?" Saber asked after a moment.

Assassin tilted her head. "Does the loyalty of your retainers mean so little to you?" she asked. "I understand half your kingdom turned against you, but the other half in the face of such uncertain odds remained true to you and your reign. Would you dishonor them by making it so that their show of loyalty never was?"

"…what about you, Assassin?" Saber whispered after a moment. "Your brothers and sisters turned against you in the end. Do you not regret that?"

"I do not." Assassin said. "We all knew what is required and expected of the Old Man of the Mountain. As I said earlier, I failed, and I understand that, and that I must take responsibility. Indeed, I would praise them, for fulfilling their duty, as they should have."

Saber looked away, her face troubled, and then raised it as she heard soft laughter coming from Archer's direction. "What is so funny?" she asked.

"I remember now." Archer answered, an expression of something that made Saber wary present on his face. "That look on your face…I remember it now. It's the face the virgins I would take to my bed would wear."

Saber's eyes widened, and then she snarled in anger. "Anyway," Rider cut in. "Unfortunately it seems that we won't be able to truly resolve anything here tonight. Shame that…but before we depart, I would ask one final question to all of you."

There was silence, as the Servants awaited the King of Conquerors' question. "Must a king stand alone?" he asked.

Archer smiled. "Of course," Saber answered at once. "The king must stand alone."

"I was never a king." Assassin said after a moment. "But as the leader of the Assassins…yes, I stood alone at the top."

Rider sighed and shook his head before draining his cup. "Is that so?" he asked before getting to his feet. "Then I look forward to the day when I get the chance to show you all what it truly means to be a king!"

Looking to Waver, Rider made to take the remaining casket of wine back to his chariot. "Come on boy," he said. "Let's get going."

"Wait." Cerberus said, before glancing at the King of Heroes, who just shrugged at her.

_It is up to you, child._

Cerberus briefly closed her eyes, and then opening them, met Rider's own. "There is something you must know." He said.

* * *

"So…the Grail is unusable?"

"It is."

Cerberus stood on her feet, her omni-tool active while projecting holographic evidence to back up her claims. Of coming from an alternate universe, a possible future in fact, of how the Fourth Holy Grail War was doomed to end in fire, blood, death and tragedy, and of how the Fifth Holy Grail War had nearly resulted in the apocalypse. She had spoken of why that had been the case, of how Einzbern's greed during the Third Holy Grail War had tainted the Grail with the spirit of a dead god, and a god of evil at that, and how it sought to consume all of Humanity and thence remake the world in its image.

"What can we do?" Waver asked.

"The safest option would be to simply destroy the Grail." Cerberus answered. "That is the option I would advocate. However, the founding families are currently exploring other options to see if they can salvage their…prize."

Archer snorted in contempt. "Do you truly have faith in their capabilities, Cerberus?" he asked.

"No…but they might surprise us."

"…that is hopelessly optimistic."

"Any particular reason we weren't invited to that meeting with the Overseer?" Rider asked with crossed arms.

"…you could say this whole matter is a personal one for the founding families." Cerberus said.

"And when I was summoned I agreed to be bound into this form on the premise of gaining the Grail." Rider said with a sigh. "The same goes for my Master risking his life in this contest. I daresay it's personal for us too."

"My apologies…I had not considered that."

Rider hummed unhappily before glancing at Saber, Archer, and Assassin. "So you knew all this already." He said. "If so…why even bother speaking earlier?"

"Well why not?" Archer asked with a smirk. "I thought it would be an interesting diversion, and it _was_ interesting, and more than a diversion even. Don't tell me you regret it, King of Conquerors."

Rider was silent for a long moment, and then he burst out laughing. "No, I don't." he admitted. "And it truly was an interesting discussion. Very interesting…while I still think we should have been invited to that meeting with the overseer, that aside, I must thank you for staying quiet until now. Revealing all…this, before our earlier discussion would have ruined the mood."

"Um…" Cerberus fumbled. "You're welcome…"

"What about Lancer's Master…Lord El-Melon, or whatever his name is?" Rider then asked. "Is he aware of this?"

"No…and I'm not really sure if we should inform him. Or if we even can."

"What does that mean?" Waver asked.

"…Lord El-Melloi is currently a cripple, after a confrontation with Kiritsugu Emiya." Cerberus said while scratching the back of her head. "His…fiancée, has taken over as Lancer's Master, except she can't really think straight right now."

"Huh?"

"…we all know who Lancer really is." Cerberus said. "And we all know what that pretty face of his could do to women. And well…from the look of things, Ms. Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri wasn't too happy with being paired with Lord El-Melloi so she…um, let Lancer's Mystic Face enchant her."

There was a moment of silence, and then there was a sound of flesh meeting flesh as Saber palmed her face, Irisviel letting her face fall into her hands, and laughter too, as Archer laughed loud and hard up at the sky. Waver looked exasperated, while Rider looked torn.

"Well…" he began, and scratching at a cheek. "If he can't satisfy his wife or make her happy, it only follows that she'd look for a better man. That said, considering what we know about that ability of Lancer's, I wouldn't call this love or even infatuation…"

"Enchant might not be the right word either." Cerberus murmured.

"Entranced would be more accurate, I think." Waver said with a sigh.

"That…actually works. Thanks, Lord El-Melloi II."

"…don't call me that."

Rider crossed his arms again, and hummed in thought for the next several moments. And then he glanced at Archer. "You believe her?" he asked.

"I do." Archer said with a nod. "I have more than one way to ascertain the truth, and I know she speaks it. As my counterpart from her world might say, she is a rare jewel that shines in this twilit age."

"Is she?" Rider asked before turning back to Cerberus. "Alright…I'll believe you girl, but somehow I think preventing disaster is just secondary to your presence in this world. Therefore, I would ask, and have you answer: what is your true goal here?"

* * *

A/N

Unfortunately, Saber will always get the short end of the stick in the banquet so long as Rider and Archer are present. At the very least, Assassin is not nearly as…critical, of Saber as Rider is, or as mocking as Archer is.

Yes, I also know that Assassin (Hassan of Serenity) is acting very different from how she usually acts in Fate/Grand Order. But the game is in a way – to be specific, with regard to character development/interactions (especially with regard to Servant-Master relations) – more light-hearted than the main entries of the franchise, such as Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Zero, Fate/Apocrypha, etc. So yes, while Assassin's wish remains the same, i.e. to find someone she can and who would truly love her, I imagine her as similar to Archer of Red, that is she knows that her wish isn't something that can truly be granted by the Grail, and is resigned/accepting of the fact.


	12. Part XII

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part XII

"My true goal…?"

"Exactly." Rider said with a nod. "Do not misunderstand. I do not doubt your sincerity in your other goal of preventing a dead god from destroying the world, but that would not have been enough for you to go to all the effort to perform such a miracle as to travel from one world to another. You are too worldly, too…_wise_, to do that just to play at being hero. You are after something else, and not as a wish to offer to the Grail. What is it?"

Cerberus was silent for a moment, and then she smiled. "Very astute, King of Conquerors." She said. "I can see how you managed to conquer the known world in just a decade, despite looking like just another loudmouthed oaf on the surface."

"Appearances are deceiving." Rider agreed before narrowing his eyes. "Will you answer?"

"I will." Cerberus said, briefly walking away only to halt, looking up at the stars. "And thank you for not doubting my sincerity. You are correct in that I have another goal, where preventing Angra Mainyu from destroying this world is me just being responsible."

"Responsible?" Irisviel echoed.

"Yes." Cerberus said with a nod. "I'm here, so I ought to do what I can to prevent the Great Fire from happening. Maybe even prevent a few other tragedies that _might _result from this war, though I can't guarantee that. You can't save everyone after all…but at the very least, I should prevent the Great Fire from happening."

"But?"

"To achieve the goal I needed to join the Holy Grail War." Cerberus answered, staring at her. "The one I seek my answer from is a Master in this contest as well, and without a Servant of my own…I'd be at a disadvantage."

"An answer…?" Irisviel echoed. "An answer to what?"

"Did that man truly exist?"

"Huh?"

Rider, Waver, Saber and Assassin, all looked confused and uncomprehending, while Archer looked faintly judging. "And what will you do when you have your answer, Cerberus?" he asked. "What will you do should you discover that a pillar of your existence has been for naught? Or conversely, it is as you thought it always has been?"

"It changes nothing." Cerberus answered. "I just want to satisfy my curiosity, and lay to rest a ghost that's lingered for too long. As I've repeatedly said in recent times, I need not run from my nature. And my nature calls that I bring that ghost to a rest, and nothing else comes to mind that leads me to think that this call should go unanswered."

Archer smirked. "Is that so?" he asked.

"It is." Cerberus said with a nod. "Besides, whether or not that man existed, the betrayal he committed will not change. The intentions behind it may or may not gain further depth, but again, it changes nothing. Betrayal is betrayal, and of the blackest kind as well. And as has been said before, the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Cerberus paused and shook her head. "No," she said. "Regardless of what answer I get, nothing will change. A ghost will be laid to rest one way or another, and that is all there is to it."

Archer stared at her with narrowed eyes, and then he shook his head with a chuckle. "I see." He said. "Very well…carry on as you would desire, child."

Cerberus bowed. "I am grateful." She said.

Rider coughed. "You've said a lot of words." He said. "But while they make good food for thought, I'm not entirely sure I follow."

"When people are young, it is only natural they look up to their parents, yes?" Cerberus asked, again pacing while looking up the stars. "To see them as heroes who would protect their children against all the evils in the world. Once, there was a child you see. Just an ordinary but talented child, who looked up to her daddy and saw him as the whole world. Someone she could always count on to be there, to love her and protect her. But then one day, that daddy made a certain decision."

Cerberus paused, and smiled. "If that child hadn't been born lucky," she said while glancing Rider's way. "Death would have been a better fate."

"And?"

"The question is," Cerberus asked. "Did the man that child look up to ever exist?"

Rider was silent for a long moment. "Cerberus," he gently began. "Parents are people too. They're not perfect. They make mistakes. But they will always have what's best for their children in mind, and will always love them, no matter what. You can be sure of that."

Cerberus stared, wide-eyed. "Wait," she said, pointing a finger at herself. "Are you thinking I'm referring to myself? No, no, no! Goodness, no! My dad is still alive and well, and I love him very much. I'd never doubt or question his character."

Tapping on her omni-tool, Cerberus then projected the image of an aging man in nondescript clothing, sitting at a table and nursing a mug of coffee while reading an iPad. "See?" Cerberus said with a grin. "I know he doesn't look like much, but dad's always been there for me – and mom – when I needed him. I wouldn't say he's perfect, but I wouldn't trade him for the world."

Archer burst out laughing. "Quite the bungle there, King of Conquerors." He remarked.

Rider made an unhappy sound while scratching his head. "Looks like it." He admitted. "Sorry about that young lady. I didn't mean to make it sound as though you had problems with your father."

"It's alright." Cerberus said with a nod, and turning off the projection. "I guess my language earlier might have made the impression that I was referring to myself."

Rider chuckled. "It certainly did." He said.

"You don't resemble your father though." Irisviel suspiciously observed.

Cerberus looked at her deadpan, and then projected an image of a small child, dressed in violet winter clothes, platinum locks spilling over her shoulders. "She doesn't look like her father either." She said.

"…point taken."

Cerberus deactivated her projection. "I trust that answers your question, King of Conquerors?" she asked.

"It does." Rider said with a nod. "I'm not entirely sure of some of what you've said, but from the sound of things, it's personal. It might not be about you, but someone close to you. And I know all about troublesome cousins and relatives. Trust me."

Cerberus smiled, shrugged, and nodded. "Wait," Irisviel began. "I want to ask a question too."

Cerberus sighed, and muttered something in Finnish before turning to Irisviel. "What is it?" she asked.

"When you sent that letter to me and my husband," Irisviel began. "You said your name was Kirsikka Edelfelt. That was also the name you used on that geis in the church. But in that projection of your memories, the El-Melloi addressed you as 'Miss Matou'. Which is it, really?"

"Yes."

"…huh?"

"Kirsikka Edelfelt is the name my cousin gave me." Cerberus explained. "Partly in jest, to annoy my older sister, and partly because it's part of a prospective development that could see me become an official branch member of the Edelfelt Clan. It's still in the works, but my relationship with my cousins, aunts, and uncles, are good enough that even now they already call me Kirsikka, and it's also the name I use on my Finnish passport."

"…oh." Irisviel said. "And…the Matou?"

Cerberus laughed. "Ever heard of the old adage that you must cut out rot before it can spread?" she asked. "It's true. Get rid of Makiri Zolgen, and the Matou Clan not only bounces back, but actually flourishes. Good riddance, and in more ways than one."

"…I see." Irisviel said before narrowing her eyes in realization. "_You _are the Matou Master. None of the ones from our timeline were chosen because you arrived."

"…and they never figured it out too." Cerberus said with a laugh and a shake of her head. "No doubt because Makiri Zolgen is still alive, and as such they're all just a bunch of unthinking puppets being pulled by strings attached to his fingers. What a shame…"

Irisviel didn't know what to say to that, and after a moment, Rider nodded. "Really now," he said. "Tonight's turned out to be more interesting than I ever expected it would be. Not that that's a bad thing, of course. In any case, I suppose we should all take our leave now."

Rider then looked at Cerberus, then at Irisviel. "About the Grail though," he said. "If anything comes up, I expect that we'll also be consulted, and not just you and your fellow founding family members. Alright?"

Irisviel sighed. "Yes, I understand." She said. "In hindsight, considering you're also putting your lives on the line in this contest, we should have informed you and involved you in discussions with regard to this issue. You won't be left out of the loop again, I give you my word."

Rider nodded. "That will be enough then." He said, before stepping into his chariot, followed by Waver. "Oh yes…one more thing. Saber! While I no longer see you as a king, I still see you as a hero. With that in mind, I offer this advice: wake up. Don't let your childish dreams take away what makes you a hero in the first place."

At those words, Rider and his Master rode off into the sky, and a chuckling Archer also made to leave. "Don't be so downcast." He offered. "While your ideals are those of a child, to stand by them and pursue them with all you have, no matter what stands in your way…it might not be worthy of a king, but it is admirable regardless. Of that, there is no doubt. Be strong, Saber. You might yet be worthy of my love."

Saber looked torn at Archer's simultaneous encouragement, admiration, and insult. Without any further words, Archer vanished in a swirl of gold, leaving Saber alone with Assassin and their Masters. "Will you be going now as well?" Cerberus asked.

"Yes, we will." Irisviel said, before placing a hand on Saber's shoulder. Saber glanced at her, and without a word walked towards the direction of the temple's exit. Irisviel stared at her for a few moments, and then giving a bow at Cerberus, rushed to follow Saber.

Alone now, Cerberus and Assassin exchanged glances, and then the former sighed. "I'm so tired." She said, before looking up at the stars. "It's been a long night, and I was just about to enact the next phase too. It can't be helped, I guess."

* * *

The sky was overcast the following day, rendering everything dull and gloomy. It certainly reflected Aoi Tohsaka's mood, as she went grocery shopping that morning. First Sakura, and now Rin…her children were being taken from her, one after another, and while Tokiomi was doing his best to find Rin…

…Sakura…her little girl…she'd never come home ever again…

Fighting back the tears like she'd done over the past year, Aoi concentrated on buying what she needed for the day. Winter vegetables, and meat for tonight's dinner, among other things…

_I have to stay strong. I have to appear perfect, steadfast, and unaffected, as should only be expected from the wife of the head of the Tohsaka Clan._

Taking a deep breath to brace herself, Aoi picked out her choices, and walking over to the counter, had her items checked out before paying from them. Picking up the grocery bag, she left the store, and made for her car.

"Aoi Tohsaka, correct?"

Aoi turned, and stared into the open window of the car next to her own. A young woman was sitting in the driver's seat, eyes hidden behind sunglasses. "If you wish to see your children again, then you will get in the car, and come with me quietly." The woman said.

"Who are you?" Aoi breathed.

"You may address me as Cerberus."

"Cerberus?" Aoi said before rallying. "I don't know or what you're planning, but you won't get away with it. My husband…"

"Your husband will move as predicted up to a certain point." Cerberus interrupted. "And then…well, we will see."

Another woman appeared, and opening the back door, gestured for Aoi to come in. "Come," Cerberus said. "Rin and Sakura are waiting."

Aoi gasped at the mention of Sakura. "Leave her out of this!" she all but shouted. "She…she…she's already been taken away from her family! She shouldn't be…!"

"If all goes well, then she'll be back with her family." Cerberus interrupted again. "Now, will you come in or will you not?"

There was a long moment, and with a defiant expression on her face, Aoi entered Cerberus' car, the other woman closing the door behind her. The other woman then boarded, sitting in the driver's side seat, Cerberus turning on her car before reversing out of the parking and then roaring away.

* * *

"Where are you taking me?" Aoi demanded.

"Ryuudo Temple." Cerberus answered, taking off her sunglasses the better to see with. "Your children are waiting for you there."

"What do you want from me?" Aoi breathed after a few minutes. "Why did you kidnap Rin? Why did you involve Sakura in this?"

"I require your cooperation." Cerberus answered, deftly dancing her car between and through the gaps in the traffic. "Rin Tohsaka's presence – and cooperation – is also required to acquire my objective. As for Sakura…I didn't _involve _her. I _rescued _her."

"Rescued her?" Aoi whispered, feeling her heart freeze at the thought the Matou might have hurt her little girl. "No…no! Tokiomi…he promised me the Matou would keep her safe! That they'd cherish and love her like we did! You're lying! You have to be!"

"…then why don't you ask her yourself when we arrive?" Cerberus asked back.

"How would I know you didn't just make her say what you want her to say?" Aoi countered. "She's just a child! She wouldn't know better."

"Then you will see once the final phase of this plan begins." Cerberus said. "Cooperate, and all will be well. Do not cooperate…and still all will be well. Remember: you have no magic circuits. I will do what I must. But don't worry: no matter how this goes, you and your children will not be harmed."

"You expect me to trust a criminal?" Aoi sneered, and Cerberus laughed.

"No, I expect you to trust family." Cerberus answered. "My name is Kirsikka Edelfelt, yes, of the same family as your mother-in-law. And we Edelfelts have always prized family above all."

"So why…?"

"Because your husband is under suspicion." Cerberus said with a smile. "And so questions must be asked, and choices made."

"But to involve his children!" Aoi protested.

"Rest assured, they will not be harmed." Cerberus replied. "On the contrary, regardless of how this matter proceeds, their future shall be more than guaranteed."

Aoi couldn't say anything, sinking back into the upholstery, initially with frustration and resentment, which quickly gave way to resignation and despair.

_Why? Why is this happening to me?_

* * *

"Lady Aoi?" Kirei remarked in surprise.

"Kirei!" Aoi breathed. "What are you doing here?"

Kirei looked disinclined to answer, but the question was answered anyway as Cerberus stepped forward. "Ah, Kirei, just the man I was looking for!" she said, cheerfully taking a hand and shaking it, while patting the uncomfortable priest on a shoulder. "I did ask you to give me a chance to prove my words to you…and the time has come for me to do so. You will cooperate, won't you?"

"That would depend on what you ask me to do."

"Deliver a message, and to observe."

"…I suppose I can do that much."

Aoi slumped to the ground, shaking and staring at Kirei in horror. "Kirei…" she breathed. "You…you…you betrayed us? My husband? After everything he did for you? Why? What can Edelfelt offer you that Tokiomi cannot?"

"Answers." Kirei answered. "I wish to know why I am the kind of man I am, and how I can live with myself. Edelfelt seems like she cannot provide an answer to the former, but the latter…"

Kirei trailed off, and then shook his head. "I am grateful for everything your husband has done for me." He said. "I am grateful for your kindness and hospitality. But alas, you could not provide me the answers I sought, and therefore I must turn to others for them. And Edelfelt offers at least one, a way to the future, even if the origin remains shrouded to me."

"Rest assured," Cerberus said with a nod. "No matter how the plan ends, innocents shall not be harmed, at least not without meaning."

"Without meaning?" Kirei asked.

"Wisdom comes from pain." Cerberus answered. "And as you have seen two night ago, Sakura has learned much, too much for her age, while Rin has learned less from being coddled by her parents."

"And by witnessing the truth and enduring the pain thereof, has learned wisdom as well." Kirei observed. "I see. You make a good point."

Cerberus nodded. "Escort Missus Tohsaka to where she needs to be." She said, already turning to walk along. "I'll go on ahead."

Kirei nodded, and then turned back to Aoi as Cerberus left. "Come, Lady Aoi." He said, coming closer and helping the stricken Aoi to her feet. "Your children will be most pleased to see you."

"Mom!"

"Rin!"

Mother and daughter ran to each other, and caught each other in an embrace. Cerberus, Kirei, and Assassin looked on in respectful silence…as did Sakura. Or in her case, less respectful, and more apathy. It took only a few moments for Aoi and Rin to realize this, and they stared back at her.

"Sakura…?" Rin murmured, holding out a hand, but Sakura didn't move.

"Sakura…?" Aoi whispered, and finally Sakura seemed to respond.

"Good day, Aunt Tohsaka." She said in her usual, soft and toneless voice, and giving a polite bow.

Aoi's body shook with suppressed emotions, and it didn't take special training to see she was fighting back the urge to cry. "I'm sorry." She eventually managed to say, but Sakura didn't seem to register.

Cerberus now moved forward, past Rin and Aoi, towards Sakura and guiding her back inside. After a moment, Rin and Aoi followed, Assassin and Kirei staying to the rear. "Sakura," Cerberus began. "Why don't you tell…Missus Tohsaka, all about your time in Matou? And about how we met, and what we did for you a while ago."

"Okay."

"You too, Rin." Cerberus said. "I'm sure you have plenty of things to say. We'll give you some privacy."

Stepping out of the room, Cerberus sealed the doors and activated the bounded fields, before taking a circuitous route back inside the guesthouse. "What is your next move, Cerberus?" Kirei asked.

Cerberus didn't answer until she arrived at her control room, where she unlocked her systems and began bringing up screens and other visual aids. Kirei focused on one, a map of the waterfront, and another, zoomed in of the former. Red circles homed in on the latter, data scrolling past at high speed.

"It is critical for this plan that Tokiomi Tohsaka be drawn here." Cerberus explained. "Here, he will be made to choose: his family, or his magecraft."

Kirei turned his head to stare. After a moment, Cerberus stared back, and after another moment Kirei turned away and shook his head. "All this for that?" he asked. "You could just ask me and I could give you the answer. He will always choose his magecraft over everything else. He is a magus to the bone, the perfect one, even."

"I suspect he might." Cerberus answered. "But you never know what choices a man might make, standing alone at the crossroads in the dark."

"Poetic," Kirei said with a nod. "But foolishly optimistic, at least with regard to Tokiomi."

"We will see."

"Hmm…and the details?"

Cerberus smiled. "Most magi tend to look down on modern technology." She said. "I'm not exactly sure as to the why, and that comes from someone who grew up with an older sister who struggled with using a _television _of all things. But she wasn't completely clueless…but others are. So many of them…something I've used to my advantage more than once, and a trend which I expect will continue for some time to come."

"And your point is?"

"There are exceptions." Cerberus said, tapping at her keypad, and bringing up the seal of the Clock Tower's Department of Modern Magecraft Theories. "The youngest of the Clock Tower's departments, the magi of the Department of Modern Magecraft Theories do not look down on nor spurn modern technology, and indeed, in many cases seek to fuse technology and magecraft."

Kirei nodded slowly. "Yes, I know this much." He said. "And how does this play into your plans?"

"I have successfully piggybacked onto the satellite uplink and global network of Fuyuki's harbor control." Cerberus answered. "Through them, I am able to remotely access the Department of Modern Magecraft Theories' network…as well as that of the College of Law."

"Hmm…I was unaware of the latter using modern technology…but knowing the Queen of the Clock Tower's…demands, for efficiency, I am not surprised."

"Indeed we should not." Cerberus said with a nod, and tapping at her keyboard brought up a diagram and vast amounts of data that had Kirei taking a step back in shock, and looking at her in horror. "I am well aware of what the Grail is actually meant to do, and what would happen should the powers that be learn of it. And so I shall make Tokiomi Tohsaka choose. His family…or his magecraft."

Kirei clenched his fists, and after a moment Berserker shimmered into view, mace held at the ready, responding instinctively to her Master's fury. "What purpose does this serve?" he asked. "How would this answer my question?"

Cerberus turned to Kirei. "You've seen what was done to Sakura." She said. "You know as well as I do that Tokiomi knew all of that beforehand, and not only approved of it, but saw it as a small price to pay to ensure his daughter would become a magus. And you know as well as I do what would happen to Rin if she remained with him, and under his tutelage. She would become just like him, someone who would pimp out her own children and completely destroy not just their innocence but their very Humanity even, all for the sake of what is nothing more than self-righteousness, and an amorphous concept of nobility."

"…and?"

Cerberus turned back to the screens. "So we shall either expose him for what he truly is," she continued. "And thus give Aoi and Rin alike the confirmation they need to walk away from him of their own free will, or we awaken his deeply-buried Humanity."

There was a moment of silence, and then Kirei relaxed, followed by Berserker. The priest snorted, and moving closer shook his head. "Foolishness," he said. "He's not Human anymore, more akin to a machine even, much like if not more so than Einzbern's homunculi, twisted and evil."

"…so you will cooperate?"

"I will." Kirei said. "Though I still wonder how this is meant to show me how to come to terms with my nature."

"Then I will ask again," Cerberus said. "Is it so wrong to enjoy well-deserved suffering? Is there not such a thing as righteous satisfaction, such as when justice is brought to bear on those who committed wrong?"

"…we shall see."

"Indeed we shall."

"Are you not worried that the King of Heroes will intervene on Tokiomi's behalf?"

"He will not." Cerberus answered. "While I must admit I lack the…wisdom, to know his thoughts, I've worked for him long enough that I know that in this scenario, he will stand aside and observe as Tokiomi proves his worth. Does he still have a heart, a shred of Humanity or even a soul within? Or is he just like a machine now, performing simulacra of emotions and thought even as he mechanically grinds onward in pursuit of the Root?"

"…I hope for all our sakes you are correct." Kirei sighed after a moment. He stared at the screens for several more moments, and then he snorted. "Though, considering how the King of Heroes already views him in contempt, I find the thought of imagining how he would respond should Tokiomi's true nature be fully revealed to be…amusing."

"And in your eyes Tokiomi is already evil, or at the very least deserving of retribution." Cerberus observed. "What does that say to you?"

Kirei snorted again, but didn't answer. Instead he turned to Cerberus. "What do you need me to do?" he asked.

Cerberus walked over to the side, and opening a drawer took something out and handed it to Kirei. Taking it, the priest held up the envelope made from old-fashioned parchment, and turned it to see the red wax stamped to seal the envelope. Narrowing his eyes, Kirei made out the details of a hyena's head turned windward, petals dancing in the wind and around the hyena's head.

"What is the difference between the hexagon and the seal?" he asked.

"Cerberus and Kirsikka Edelfelt are normally separate individuals." Cerberus answered.

"I see." Kirei said with a nod, understanding. The hexagon might be the emblem for the assassin named Cerberus, but the hyena amidst flowers on the wind was the personal crest of Kirsikka Edelfelt. "Very well, I shall deliver it to Tokiomi Tohsaka."

"You have my thanks, Kirei Kotomine. And rejoice, for your wish shall be granted."

At that, Kirei smiled, and for a moment, Cerberus saw the man who had been ally and enemy all at once during the Fifth Holy Grail War. She couldn't help it.

She smiled as well.

* * *

A/N

Well, there you have Cerberus' motivations. In the end, joining the war is just a matter of convenience and personal responsibility. What she's really after is something else. And now she has all the cards she needs to get that something else.


	13. Part XIII

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part XIII

"So, how are you doing?"

Aoi dabbed at her eyes. It had been bad enough, listening to Sakura tonelessly tell all about what the Matou had done to her. About how the…the _worms_, she'd been fed to, how for three nights straight she'd been thrown into the pit and how they'd chewed or otherwise forced themselves into and nested inside her, all the while her 'grandfather' had just coldly watched, until finally she'd stopped crying and begging and just let them do what they wanted to her. Then there was how she'd been told to simply forget she had a mother and sister, and finally there was Kariya.

Kariya…her best friend…Aoi knew he'd had feelings for her, feelings she'd never reciprocated. He'd stood aside when she had married Tokiomi, but they'd stayed in touch, and had gotten on well with her girls. Aoi had cried when Sakura had told her about the worms, and had cried again when she'd learned that Kariya had tried to ransom Sakura in exchange for himself, the original Matou heir who'd abandoned the family in his youth…and now she knew why.

Tried and failed to ransom Sakura…and for his failure, Kariya had been consumed down to the bone, those same bones shown to Sakura as a warning of what would happen should she defy her grandfather. "Thank you." Aoi whispered with a sniffle.

Nearby, Rin and Sakura sat, though apart from each other. Like her mother, Rin's eyes were red from crying after hearing for a second time everything her sister had been through, but Sakura…

…she was silent, still, and completely apathetic to the world. Despite the worms' removal, she was still a doll, just like Matou wanted her. She could still recover, but that would be a long way off.

"You are welcome." Cerberus said with a smile. "Unlike other magi families, we Edelfelt value family above everything else. Indeed, family _is _everything."

"…what are you saying?" Aoi asked.

"I told you your husband was under suspicion." Cerberus said, beginning to pace. "But first, some context. That your mother-in-law had married your father-in-law without our family's permission is a fact, and certainly a point of contention, but it cannot be denied that both your husband and his children are of our blood. And as the old saying goes, blood is thicker than water."

Cerberus paused speaking, and likewise stopped pacing. "Reconciliation should be possible, with some concessions on both sides." She continued. "There is just one problem."

"And that is?"

Cerberus tilted her head. "Matou's infamy is well-known." She said. "So much so that your husband could not possibly have been ignorant of the fate awaiting your daughter. And more importantly, had your family been a proper branch, we would never have allowed Sakura to be surrendered to those wretches."

Cerberus paused again. "Your husband's reasoning behind sending her away was sound." She continued. "That much we will concede. However, his choice of _who _to surrender her to is completely unacceptable, much less the terms they came with. No contact whatsoever? All traces of her previous identity erased from the public record? Essentially, her relation to her family, whether extended or otherwise, ceased to be. Again, family _is _everything. This is unforgivable."

Aoi lowered her face, fresh tears tricking out of her eyes and down her face. "…will you kill my husband?" she asked.

"If I must, I will." Cerberus said. "But perhaps that may not be necessary. As regrettable as his choices are, he is still of our blood. Family…and because of that, he is due one chance. One chance to prove he is one of us not just in blood but also in spirit."

"…and if he chooses wrong?"

"What will be, will be."

Aoi sniffled, and wiped at her eyes. "Then," she began. "What of me and my children?"

"If he chooses wrong," Cerberus began. "Then you will be sent to Finland. Our family will take responsibility for you all, and provide protection from the consequences of your husband's foolishness. Furthermore, you can rest assured that there will no undue separations, and that all your needs will be met."

Aoi said nothing, just crying in silence. Rin looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end, could only wipe at her eyes. After everything they'd learned, they could no longer defend the figure that had once stood in the middle of their lives.

How could they? Sakura's unfeeling expression and voice, and the poisoned shade of her eyes and hair, reminded them of everything done with his blessing.

"I take my leave." Cerberus said with a bow. "Be sure to be prepared to depart this evening. I will have you witness as Tokiomi makes his choice, and shows himself for what he truly is in the dark."

Aoi gave the smallest of nods, and with another bow Cerberus made to leave. But just as she reached the doorway, she paused, and turned back to Aoi and her children. "One more thing." She said, while activating her omni-tool.

Blue light flashed out, sweeping over Aoi and then Rin repeatedly, and then Cerberus nodded with satisfaction. "This will suffice." She said. "Thank you for your cooperation."

With that, she turned and left them to their grief and despair.

* * *

Tokiomi slammed his fist against his desk, clutching a crumpled sheet of parchment within. It was on that parchment that Cerberus, no, _Kirsikka Edelfelt _had issued her ultimatum against him.

Apparently, she had in her custody both his wife and daughter. And unless he came at midnight tonight to…what was it again…oh yes, Pier 34 at the Fuyuki Harbor, then he would never see them again. And that was it.

No explanation of why she had abducted his family, why she was holding them hostage, and why she wanted him to come to a secluded location at midnight. Not that any explanation was needed. The second question essentially answered the first, an old but functioning (and very dishonorable) means of forcing obedience on those who would otherwise _not _be obedient. Then again, what else could be expected from people who proudly compared and likened themselves to hyenas?

"_Scavengers…and scavengers feed on dead meat._" Tokiomi thought in disgust. "_How fitting for the Edelfelt…they sell their services to the highest bidder, and along the way eagerly take any opportunity to pilfer anything and everything of value, magic or otherwise, for their own purposes._"

Family loyalty (his mother _had _been an Edelfelt) warred with magus pride within Tokiomi, the man fighting the urge to curse and insult the Edelfelt. In the end, the former won, but not without some measure of self-loathing from Tokiomi.

But there was still the last question: why did Edelfelt want him to come to the docks at night? And that led to another question: what did she – or her family – want?

Tokiomi blinked, and then taking a deep breath gathered his resolve. No…the answer didn't matter. Not now…later maybe, _after _he'd reclaimed his wife and daughter. And then he would have answers from his cousin.

But first…

Tokiomi rose, and leaving his workshop made his way followed by Kirei to the living room, where the King of Heroes normally lounged at. And it seemed he was expected. Instead of the loose and comfortable white tunic the King of Heroes normally wore, Archer was in full plate, and lounged not on Tokiomi's couch, but sat on a throne of gilded cedar and red cloth, no doubt brought forth from the depths of the Gate of Babylon.

Tokiomi approached, and bowed low. Kirei also bowed, though he did not approach, and indeed, stayed bowed while backing away, rising only to stand against a wall. "You have come," Archer observed. "As I have foreseen. Speak, and tell me what you seek."

"Your Majesty," Tokiomi began, his head bowed. "My wife and daughter have been abducted by my cousin, Kirsikka Edelfelt. I know not what it is she seeks to achieve by doing so, but I beg for your assistance in restoring them to my side."

"Denied."

Tokiomi gasped in shock, raising his head to stare in disbelief at the King of Heroes. Seated on his throne, Archer smiled. "Have you forgotten what it was you said to me when I returned to my garden?" he asked.

"I have not, Your Majesty." Tokiomi answered. "I am, and remain, Your Majesty's humble Servant."

"Indeed," Archer replied with a laugh. "But of what use to me is a Servant who cannot protect his family? Know this, Tokiomi. Family is the simplest treasure of all, but it is one that any man or woman can freely earn, no matter their station. Even I cannot deny them that. It would not be just to do so. But, if you cannot protect your own family, your _treasure_, how could I possibly trust you to do likewise to mine?"

Tokiomi couldn't answer, and Archer frowned, tilting his head to rest it against a raised fist. "Prove yourself to me, Tokiomi." He said. "Reclaim what is yours from the one called Cerberus. Do so, and you shall have your just reward."

Tokiomi bowed low. Deep down, he was tempted to use his command spells, and while he would normally not risk it due to needing at least two to overcome the King of Heroes' willpower to force him to commit suicide to open the path to the Root…well, with the Grail's corruption that was no longer a concern…but more to the point, Tokiomi's pride had been injured. Doubly-so, first by his cousin taking his family hostage and using such a fact to force his hand, and again by Archer throwing the fact in his face.

No…he could not force Archer to assist with his command spells. To do so would reveal his pride, his _ability _hollow. Not just as a magus, but also as a father and as a husband.

He would reclaim them with his own hands.

"It shall be as you say, Your Majesty." Tokiomi said, and Archer smiled.

"We shall see."

* * *

They came in the dead of night, several black and up-armored Toyotas, driving through the empty and silent streets towards the harbor, and finally coming to a halt along a stretch of road adjacent to Pier 34. Doors opened and men in suits jumped out, many carrying H&K MP5 Submachine Guns, while others had Browning Hi-Power Pistols fitted with shoulder stocks.

And there was Kirei as well, quickly slipping away as soon as he got out of the Toyota carrying Tokiomi, and vanishing into the shadows. The men checked their weapons, flipping safeties and chambering rounds, and on receiving confirmation from their employer through their ear-beads, spread out across the collection of buildings clustered along the docks and on the landward side of the pier.

"Warning," Cerberus' Virtual Intelligence (VI) Assistant warned her. "Hostile forces have entered the zone of operations. Based on thermal readings, thirty-six hostiles are present within the area."

"Understood," Cerberus replied, tapping at her omni-tool while sitting on the arm of the crane which towered over the pier below. Her helmet was off, allowing the wind to blow through her hair, the young woman concealed by the dark of night and her own tactical cloak. "Standby to commence operational maneuvers."

"Confirmed." The VI replied.

Cerberus kept her eyes on the tactical display projected by her omni-tool, watching the dots representing Tokiomi's hired guns make their way through the maze between buildings and shipping containers below. To their credit, they moved slowly and methodically, sticking to cover and making sure to check their corners, always moving with their backs and flanks covered.

Had they the proper equipment, preparation, and backup, they might even defeat her.

But…from the look of things, Tokiomi was using them as sacrifices to feel out any traps Cerberus might have laid out for him. A pointless gesture, as while Cerberus _had _laid out a number of traps, if Tokiomi had come alone, she wouldn't have set them off.

As it was, she'd suspected he wouldn't come alone, and so she'd prepared, and would now set them off. Just a little bit more, and…

"Engage." Cerberus ordered.

Below, tactical cloaks shimmered into inactivity as automated turrets rose up, and then extended barrels forward. The hired guns opened fire, 9x19mm rounds splattering harmlessly against kinetic barriers, and then safeties were released as 7.62x51mm NATO rounds were chambered. Kinetic barriers dropped and bullets struck sparks off and left dents in titanium armor plating, and then machine guns were roaring away.

Men screamed as they were gunned down, others jumping into cover as their fellows fell dead or dying to the ground. Blood spilled, pooled, and flowed on the ground, but the fire didn't let up, the automated turrets strategically-positioned to catch intruders in crossfires and then to pin the survivors down. Every so often, the guns would stop to let the barrels cool or to reload, and the gunmen popped out of cover to open fire, only for their guns to again be foiled by the automated turrets' kinetic barriers. And then they fired again, forcing the gunmen back into cover.

"Commence stage two." Cerberus ordered.

Atop buildings and shipping containers, mechs hummed to life, unfolding and powering up systems before drawing Remington 870 12-gauge shotguns from behind them. They jumped down behind and on top of the gunmen, and opening fire at close or point-blank range wreaked utter carnage. Mangled corpses were sent flying along with bloody chunks of Human flesh as buckshot was fired again and again.

The gunmen fought back of course, and even managed to repel their ambushers in a few cases. They also and quickly learned not to get too close to damaged mechs, or to disarm them. Foucault Currents powered up in either case, reinforcing the mechs' titanium plating before they charged into the gunmen's ranks, and then self-destructed, their bodies making for a very good source of deadly shrapnel.

But the gunmen learned and adapted quickly, keeping their distance from the mechs and jumping up on the roofs to get on top of the automated turrets. And while the automated turrets were essentially invulnerable while reloading, when firing they were protected only by armor plating, which could be overwhelmed by sheer weight of fire.

All the mechs and automated turrets were eventually destroyed, but by then twenty-four men were dead, and of the eight survivors, all were injured. Unwilling to risk advancing further, they fell back towards the cars.

"Take them out, Assassin." Cerberus ordered.

"_Yes, my Master._" Assassin replied, materializing atop a crate along the gunmen's line of retreat. Running lithe and quiet along them, Assassin jumped overhead, across their line of retreat, and threw poisoned daggers into their ranks.

Four men fell with cries of pain, which then turned into gurgles punctuated by the sound of bodies convulsing against the ground. The four survivors stared in horror…

…and then Assassin dropped into the middle of them. Steel flashed and blood flew, and all four remaining gunmen fell dead, their necks slit. Assassin sheathed her blades, and then shimmered into astral form.

"Your move, Tokiomi Tohsaka." Cerberus said, while getting to her feet.

* * *

For several minutes, there was silence, and then finally a door opened. Tokiomi stepped out, primly smoothing his clothes before hefting his cane and then making his way towards the pier. His face was set like stone, and his eyes were cold.

As he walked through the streets, he took in the sights and smells of battle, of corpses lying amidst pools of blood, and the blackened wreckage of destroyed mechs and automated turrets. Spent casings were everywhere, along with ricochets: cleaning up was going to be hell. While nothing here indicated the presence of magic or the supernatural, so many corpses and spent bullets plus advanced technology (that shouldn't exist yet) would be much too visible for comfort.

Finally, Tokiomi emerged at the pier, and came to a halt near the water. "Cerberus!" he shouted. "I'm here! Where's my family? What do you want?"

Spotlights came to life, illuminating Cerberus as she stood atop the crane, the wind blowing through her hair, encased in white-finished, gold-trimmed armor sans her helmet. "So you've come." She shouted down at Tokiomi. "And you even brought some friends with you."

"You killed them." Tokiomi said.

"They were uninvited." Cerberus answered.

"What do you want, Kirsikka?" Tokiomi demanded. "Where's my family?"

Cerberus indicated herself. "Right here." She said.

Tokiomi grit his teeth at the mockery, made even worse by the fact that she wasn't lying. She was an Edelfelt after all, like his mother.

_Like him, even._

"Let me clarify." He growled. "Where's my wife and daughter?"

"Over there." Cerberus said, raising a remote and pressing a switch.

Lights turned on at a boat docked at the far end of the pier, and Tokiomi gasped in horror as he saw Rin and Aoi tied to the mast, their mouths duct-taped. They struggled against their bonds, and while he couldn't hear Tokiomi just knew they were all but screaming for him to come and help them.

"WHY?" He demanded. "WHY GO THIS FAR? WHAT DOES EDELFELT WANT FROM ME? WHAT'S THE POINT EVEN? YOU'RE FROM THE FUTURE! AN ALTERNATE TIMELINE, IN FACT! WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"I want you to choose, Tokiomi." Cerberus demanded.

"Choose?"

Cerberus pressed another switch, and a light on a nearby building turned on, illuminating a computer. A moment later and Assassin appeared, and nudging the touchpad woke the computer from its sleep. "I know you're completely ignorant when it comes to computers," Cerberus began. "So I put a set of instructions next to the computer."

"…why should I choose between my family and a machine?"

"What do you think would happen should the Association discover the true purpose of Heaven's Feel?"

Tokiomi's blood ran cold, and for the first time in a long while, felt and tasted true fear. "Yes," Cerberus said with a nod. "I know what the Grail truly is. What it's truly meant to do. To open a path to the Root…and I also know that any and all attempts to do so, should be done under Association supervision."

Cerberus paused and chuckled. "Choose, Tokiomi." She said. "Save your family, and that computer will upload all the information on the Grail to the Department of Modern Magecraft Theories and the College of Law. Save your magecraft, and your family will die."

"WHAT KIND OF CHOICES ARE THOSE?" Tokiomi roared, his composure completely lost by now.

"The kind of choices that show what kind of person you truly are." Cerberus answered.

"THERE'S HARDLY ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM!" Tokiomi shot back. "EVEN IF SAVE MY FAMILY…IF THE ASSOCIATION FINDS OUT, THEY…!"

"…will be left alone." Cerberus coolly interrupted. "I know Association procedure. You will be placed under sealing designation, all your assets and your crest seized, and your positions revoked. However, as your heiress is still a child and your wife neither trained nor having potential, they'll be left alone…though considering Rin's potential…well, we'll claim her and her mother. Consider it _quid pro quo _for your mother."

Cerberus paused and smiled. "I'm sure being a branch member of our family would be far better than being a nobody magus from a backwater, Second Owner or not." She remarked.

"SCREW YOU!"

Cerberus laughed. "Thank you, but no." she said. "You have one minute to choose, and then another minute to act. If you don't act or move too slowly, we go into sudden death, that is both your family die and the data is uploaded to the Clock Tower. Now choose, Tokiomi. Choose, and tell me what kind of man you truly are."

At those words, Cerberus smiled, and putting on her helmet jumped down from the crane, shimmering into invisibility as she flipped through the air. And then silence.

Silence wherein Tokiomi was crushed by the weight of the choice before him. He could save his family, but if he did, then his family's greatest, most prized, and most dangerous secret would be exposed to his superiors. It would be the end of the Tohsaka Clan, one way or another.

But if he stopped the upload, then his family would die. Aoi…his beautiful and loving wife…Rin…his precocious and bright-eyed child…so brilliant and happy…the perfect child…heiress…legacy…perfect wife…perfect family…

Tokiomi clutched at his head, the man and the magus in conflict with each other, a conflict made all the worse at how the man and the magus were so tied to each other.

_Either way…everything will be lost…everything! Our legacy…our pride as magi…_

A loud beeping shocked Tokiomi out of his thoughts, numbers counting down on the computer's screen. Muffled screaming in the distance had Tokiomi reinforcing his eyes, and he saw explosives piled around the mast, timers also counting down.

Tokiomi stared, eyes flicking back and forth, shaking at the mental conflict, and tears falling down his face. He made his choice.

_Forgive me._

Tokiomi ran. Eyes scanned a piece of paper, and followed what was written therein. Commands were pulled up, entered, and then confirmed. Ellipses scrolled down on black, and then…

**UPLOAD ABORTED.**

And then an explosion erupted in the night, water splashing and debris flying everywhere as the boat carrying Aoi and Rin blew apart. Tokiomi's legs failed him, and he fell to his knees, the man sobbing without restraint or care. He screamed, once, twice, and then with a roar, threw the computer aside.

"KIRSIKKA!" he shouted. "**KIRSIKKA! _KIRSIKKA! KIRSIKKA!_**"

"You made your choice." Cerberus' voice came from all around. "And now you must face its consequences, as all choices have."

Tokiomi didn't reply, simply crumpling with head bowed. "Oh yes," Cerberus began. "You still have one other daughter left, don't you?"

Tokiomi's head shot up, eyes wide and face twisted in horror. And then slowly rising to her feet, he growled and then roared in rage. "YOU LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!" he thundered into the night.

Laughter echoed in the dark. "I don't take orders from you." Cerberus mocked. "But if you can beat me to Matou, then…"

Screaming incoherently at the top of his voice, Tokiomi turned and ran for the cars, moving at superhuman speeds thanks to reinforcement. And still, laughter echoed in the night.

* * *

"You were right."

Kirei didn't say anything, he simply smiled smugly. Cerberus muttered in Finnish under her breath, and approached Rin and Aoi, who clutched each other while crying. "Daddy…" Rin sobbed. "Daddy would have let us die? Why? I don't…why would he…he said he loved me…mommy…so why…"

"He loved your sister too." Cerberus said, walking over and patting her gently on a shoulder. "And look what happened to her. He knew what would happen, and he didn't care. Just like he didn't care just now. Like what's been said before, if the choice is between family and magecraft, he will always choose magecraft."

"More machine than man," Kirei remarked. "Twisted and evil."

"I should have never married that man!" Aoi spat with sudden and surprising venom. "Why…why did I ever…"

"Mommy?" Rin asked, and without a word Aoi just hugged her tightly.

"Hush…" she said. "You are the only thing to come out of our marriage that I would never regret, you and Sakura. If only…if only I'd realized sooner…then Sakura…then Kariya…oh Kariya…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"

Rin broke into fresh tears along with her mother, and nearby, Sakura cried as well. She didn't sob or make any noise, nor did her expression change, but tears trickled down her face as well, a crack opening in the soullessness imposed on her by Matou, and exposing the Humanity entombed beneath.

"Kirei," Cerberus said. "Why don't you take them back to Ryuudo? I'll handle the rest."

"As you wish." He said with a nod. "Though if possible, may I be the one to push the button?"

"…what button?"

"The one that will incinerate the Matou mansion." Kirei answered. "Yes…I believe such will give me an answer. An answer to how to live with myself…one way or another…so please…may I…?"

With a smile, Cerberus handed the remote detonator to Kirei. Taking it with a grateful nod, Kirei opened the safety, and then pressed the button. It flashed red, and Cerberus tilted her head. "It is done." She said. "When Tokiomi gets there…well…we shall see…"

"Yes, we shall." Kirei whispered.

"Go, and take them back to Ryuudo."

"I will."

Replacing her helmet once more, Cerberus went out, to deliver the final blow.

* * *

A/N

What? This is _still_ Fate/Zero. So far, no one's been screwed yet, well there was Ryuunosuke and Caster, but more people need to be screwed, in line with the theme set by the Urobutcher.

Oh right, Zouken got screwed. Getting one-shot by an assassin with Mystic Eyes of Death Perception…talk about embarrassing for a 500+ years-old arch-magus who in his youth had been a correspondent of Paracelsus. Or not: that it took someone with Mystic Eyes of Death Perception to finish him off does say something about him. Oh well.


	14. Part XIV

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part XIV

The Matou mansion burned. Masonry creaked and groaned as flames hungrily licked out of broken doors and windows, smoke pouring through holes in the roof lit from below with angry red and orange.

Firefighters stood around the property, pouring jets of water into the building in an attempt to put out the fire. But they had arrived too late, the fire having spread across the whole building and hungrily feeding off anything that could sate its hunger for more fuel. It was all they could do to keep the fire from spreading, from chopping down the trees in the yard, to digging a trench as a firebreak around the property.

Sparks flew in the night wind, and causing the firefighters to send for backup and to place the whole district under alert. It was winter after all, and while there was a good chance that snow _might _damp any potential kindling or fuel, if it did not, then the winter dryness made them all too flammable.

Police stood with the firefighters, holding back the crowds of fearful onlookers from the neighborhood, while others provided support for the firefighters, more than policeman having picked up a shovel to help dig the firebreak. All but unnoticed, a black Toyota screeched to a halt not far away, Tokiomi jumping out to run towards the Matou mansion, desperation all but screaming from his movements, all thoughts of dignity and good breeding gone.

He pushed through the crowd, ignoring all the angered and indignant protests coming from all around, his eyes and thoughts focused only on the burning edifice beyond. The burning edifice of his family's oldest and most trusted ally, to whom he had entrusted not just his daughter's person, but her future as well.

_No…NO…**NO**...**NO!**_

_This can't be happening!_

_How? Matou were centuries old, just as old as Edelfelt even! His family might be withered, but old Zouken was powerful and knowledgeable! More so than Tokiomi, even!_

_How could Kirsikka have defeated him so quickly? How could she have set fire to the mansion to such an extent in so short a time?_

_And Sakura…no…NO…**NO**…**NO!** She's alive! She had to be! She was their heiress! The future of their family! They'd have given their lives to get her away to safety! She had to be alive!_

Tokiomi broke through the crowds only to be restrained by the policemen beyond. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you stay back." One of them said. "It's dangerous to get too close, in fact it's dangerous to just even be here!"

"Please!" Tokiomi begged. "My…the people who lived here…they're…my family! Did they…did they…my…niece at least! Did she get out alive? She had to have!"

The policeman looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry, sir." He said. "But the people inside…no one got out, from the sound of things."

"No…NO!" Tokiomi screamed, struggling to get through, up to and including roughhousing with the police who tried to keep him away. "**_NO_**...**_NO_**…she can't be…!"

_His elemental affinity was fire. These nobodies wouldn't be able to put out the fire, but he could. He certainly would. If she was inside…then…he'd save her. Yes…she had to be alive. She had to be alive and inside, waiting for help to come. And it would. He was here now. He was here._

_He was here!_

**_He would save her!_**

**_HE WOULD!_**

A needle pressed itself against his neck, and Tokiomi gasped as he felt ice flow through his veins, and with it, his limbs grow weak and powerless, and his magic circuits…unresponsive? Lethargic? Numb?

It didn't matter. He simply fell back, and felt himself be carried away by strong hands under his arms. "Sorry about that." He heard Cerberus' voice, and Tokiomi felt everything give way, and despair drown him. "Cousin Tokiomi here has misplaced priorities. I'll take care of him."

Tokiomi just limply let Cerberus drag him away, and then holding him up with arms wrapped around his chest, forced him to watch with a hand on his jaw as the Matou mansion burned. "Come now, Tokiomi." She whispered into his ear. "Bear witness as Matou finally gets its long-overdue funeral pyre. Had Makiri Zolgen been removed from the equation early enough, then this need not have happened. But as he was not…well, it wouldn't do to just let a corpse lie around unattended. It'd rot and fester, fouling the air and sickening people. And in this land, burning is the traditional way to lay the dead to rest, is it not?"

"…why?" Tokiomi whispered.

"You chose…poorly." Cerberus answered. "Did you think there would be no consequences? There are _always _consequences, and you have only yourself to blame."

And then before Tokiomi could reply, Cerberus let him drop onto the ground. Numbed limbs couldn't support him, and Tokiomi fell onto the ground with a pained grunt. And then Cerberus' hands were grabbing him by the head, and raising him to waist-level. "In the name of my father," Cerberus snarled, eyes glowing with the light of death. "In the name of his father before him, and all their fathers before them, I, Kirsikka Edelfelt, cast you out!"

At those words, Cerberus threw Tokiomi back onto the ground, his head striking the concrete with enough force to cause him to see stars for but a moment. But the pain was nothing compared to the pain at the sight of Cerberus…no, Kirsikka's face, a face so similar to his own, to his mother's, twisted in contempt at the sight of him, eyes virtually identical to his own looking at him with no trace of familial recognition.

_No…this…cannot…be…_

The pain swelled as Cerberus strode away into the night, without even a backward glance much less a final word, her black and white dress vanishing into the press. The pain in Tokiomi's head swelled, spreading down and across his whole body, burning away the numbness in his limbs.

Tokiomi rolled to his feet, clutching his head as the pain grew to excruciating. "No…" he grunted. "Impossible…I never…all I wanted…why…why can't they…I just…no…NO…**NO**…_**NO**…**NO**_…

The pain…it was too much…he couldn't…

Tokiomi's eyes bulged in their sockets as he screamed a high-pitched scream of despair and denial, which turned to hysterical laughter as his mind gave way in the face of complete and utter failure. At the same time, the crowd burst into panic as the policemen and firefighters turned to run, as the Matou mansion began to crumble into itself.

"It's going to blow!" one fireman shouted, moments before the burning edifice caved in, sucking in huge amounts of the surrounding air, the resulting fireball erupting into the sky and sending debris flying.

As the crowd fled, Tokiomi fled with them, still laughing hysterically.

_No…she's wrong! She's wrong! I still have my family! They're all at home, waiting for me! Aoi…Rin…Sakura…they're all at home where they should be! Nowhere else! I'll show her! I'll show them all!_

* * *

The Sun rose in the morning over the city of Fuyuki.

The doors to Kotomine Church creaked open as Kirei entered, and closing them quietly behind him moved towards the altar where he bowed deeply before the icon of the Lord on His Cross. Rising, he turned and made his way into the interior, before entering his father's apartments. And there Risei was, enjoying a simple breakfast of bread, butter, fried fish, and egg mash.

Risei blinked at his son's arrival, and half-rose from his seat. Before he could speak though, Kirei beat him to the punch.

"Bless me father, for I have sinned." He formally began.

Risei blinked, and then rushing over helped Kirei into a chair. "What has happened, my son?" he asked.

"Tokiomi Tohsaka has gone insane."

"What?"

"Cerberus took his remaining family as hostages, and forcing him to come to a predetermined location, made him choose."

"Choose?" Risei echoed. "Choose between what?"

Kirei turned his head to look into his father's eyes. "Cerberus…no, Kirsikka Edelfelt, knew of the true purpose of Heaven's Feel." He said. "She was prepared to send that information to the Clock Tower, and discussed with Tokiomi the consequences of such an act. He was made to choose between saving his family or his family's legacy. He chose the latter."

Risei was speechless and aghast in equal measure. And yet, somehow, he was unsurprised how Cerberus had known. She was from the – a possible – future, after all. But…why go this far?

"And then what happened?" he asked.

"Cerberus then went to Matou and burned it down." Kirei replied. "Tokiomi arrived too late, and restrained by Kirsikka, was formally disowned by her."

"…could she actually do that?" Risei asked in disbelief.

"I do not know." Kirei said with a shake of his head. "But it matters not, for the apparent deaths of his family has driven Tokiomi mad. Last I saw of him, he was holding court with a trio of dolls, one each for his wife and children, spooning air into his mouth from an empty plate and chatting into silence as though over the breakfast table, responding to words and sentences only existing within his mind."

Risei pinched his nose. This was a complete and utter disaster for their plans…or was it? With the revelation of the Grail's corruption, and how using it in any way would unleash a heathen god (and of evil at that) upon the world, their alliance with the Tohsaka was meaningless. The founding families – by this point Einzbern alone – might think they could salvage something from its ruins, but in his educated opinion, Cerberus had the right of it. Destroying the Grail would be the cleanest, safest option of them all.

"I…see." Risei said with a sigh. "Is there anything else that you would like to say to me, my son?"

"I assisted her in her actions."

If Risei had not been sitting, he would have been floored. "Why?" he breathed.

"It was the right thing to do."

"Was it?" Risei growled out.

"Tokiomi Tohsaka had proven questionable in his role as a father and a husband." Kirei said with a sigh. "Yes, I am well aware my own record in such is questionable. I couldn't find happiness with my own wife, and when she took her own life, all I could think was how…regretful, it was that I could not end her life with my own hands. And yet for all that…I acknowledge my lack of merit. I know I am unworthy to be a father and a husband! That is why Caren is being raised by my in-laws, and not by me! I can offer her nothing of value."

Risei's anger faded, turning to confusion. "In contrast Tokiomi has always considered himself the perfect husband and father." Kirei continued with a hint of venom. "Even when he pimped out his own daughter to become a nest for worms, a toy and a puppet for a monster which should have been cut down and burned a long time ago, and all knowingly so, he did not think he did anything wrong. No…he thought it a noble sacrifice on his part, a chance his daughter should have been grateful for, to become just like him in the future. A future wherein she and her sister, born of the same flesh and blood, would be as mortal enemies, fated to clash and slay one another, all for the sake of some hollow concept of glory and honor."

Kirei paused and took a deep breath. "Kirsikka gave him a chance to prove there was a Human being beneath." He said. "A chance to face, accept, admit and repent for his sins. And then afterwards, to atone for them, to start over anew and be better. But in the end…nothing changed."

"Innocents died, my son." Risei gently pointed out.

"They did not."

"What?"

"What Tokiomi saw were simulacra born of Kirsikka's fusion of magecraft and technology." Kirei replied. "And there were none within the Matou mansion when she reduced it to ash. She had slain Zouken before, yes, that incident in the city, she was behind it. She rescued Sakura from Matou, and allowed Byakuya Matou to leave with much more than the clothes on his back, a chance to start over anew."

Kirei paused, and met his father's eyes again. "Ironic," he said. "Byakuya Matou was a drunk, helpless and enslaved to Zouken Matou's will. But given the chance to start over anew, he took it. Tokiomi had everything a man could ask for. Love…family…respect…and he still threw it away."

"…but…if the truth behind the Grail is revealed to the Association," Risei began. "Tohsaka would have been placed under sealing designation."

"Indeed," Kirei said with a nod. "Tokiomi would have been taken into custody, all his positions revoked, and his assets and positions sealed. But, his family would have been left alone. His children are too young, and his wife untrained and lacking potential."

"They would have been destitute." Risei observed.

"Edelfelt would have taken them in." Kirei answered. "They are still family, after all."

Risei sighed and shook his head. "Save his family…and then sacrifice himself for their sake…" he murmured while shaking his head. "Instead, Tokiomi chose to sacrifice them…and Edelfelt cast him out for it. Yes…I think I understand. It is…cruel, but not unjust. You did the right thing."

Kirei closed his eyes and bowed. "Where are they now?" Risei asked.

"Tokiomi's family are at Ryuudo Temple, under Cerberus' protection." Kirei replied. "When this war is over, they are to go to Finland, and join their family there. Indeed, when I departed earlier, communications were ongoing."

"…and how were they proceeding?"

"Well, actually. Lord Edelfelt seemed to be rather enjoying his talk with his cousin from a different world, and – unsurprisingly – approving of her…vicious, treatment of their mutual relative." Kirei answered. "To quote, "Nothing less is deserved by one which abandons the rest of the clan, and their own mate and pups no less"."

"That is…only to be expected."

Kirei nodded, and Risei sighed again. "So," he said. "What now?"

"I will continue to support Cerberus with regard to her plans to counter the corruption within the Grail." Kirei said. "Afterwards, I will return to Rome and rejoin the Eighth Holy Sacrament."

"What?" Risei asked with visible surprise.

"I joined this war to find answers." Kirei said with a nod. "No, before that, I became Tokiomi's apprentice in the hope that through him I could find answers to the questions which tormented me. Why am I like this? How can I live with myself like so?"

"And you have found your answers?"

"I believe so."

"Oh?"

Kirei smiled sadly. "It seems that I truly am a psychopath born." He said. "No, do not blame yourself, father. Indeed, you should be praised, for you raised me so well that even with my abhorrent nature, I know and understand what is right and what is wrong with every fiber of my being."

Risei was silent, and after a moment, Kirei continued. "I enjoyed watching as Cerberus brought retribution to bear upon Tokiomi." He said. "Perhaps it is ungrateful, after all he has done for me, but if so, then I will atone for it later on. And it led me to think back to my days as an executor, on how I brought the Lord's justice on heretics and monsters, and how I enjoyed it when I ended their lives, their misguided ambitions, and at seeing the despair at all they had and sought to gain be taken away forever."

"And?"

"Kirsikka told me that we need not run from our natures." Kirei said. "But neither should we let them rule us. On the contrary, we should face them, _and then _come to terms with them."

"Ah…I see."

"Indeed," Kirei said with a smile. "I am an avenger, a destroyer even, born to bring death and despair to all that come before me. But I will not let it rule over me, and be indiscriminate. I will instead bring retribution upon those who deserve it, and thence satisfy my nature with their well-deserved fates."

Kirei paused and closed his eyes. "I know now how to live with myself." He said with a nod. "As for why I was born like this…the Lord works in mysterious ways. Perhaps that is all the answer that is needed, the mystery of faith."

There was a long moment of silence, and then Risei sighed and nodded. "Very well," he said. "As your father I am glad that you have found your answers. But to your actions…it seems you did right, though in any case, it is not my place to judge. No, mine is only to accept your confession, and to guide you to penance."

At that Risei rose, and walking over to his son, raised a hand over his head. Kirei bowed his head, and clasped his hands in prayer. "For your penance," Risei began. "I would have you stand vigil on this day, to reflect on your actions, and when this war is over, to visit your daughter and let her know she has a father, and your reasons for not being there for her all this time."

"Yes, father."

"_Deus meus, ex toto corde paenitet me omnium meorum peccatorum,_" Risei chanted the Act of Contrition. "_Eaque detestor, quia peccando, non solum poenas a te iuste statutas promeritus sum, sed praesertim quia offendi te, summum bonum, ac dignum qui super omnia diligaris. Ideo firmiter propono, adiuvante gratia tua, de cetero me non peccaturum occasiones proximas fugitarum._"

"Amen." Kirei whispered, and then crossed himself.

Risei smiled. "Go, my son." He said, patting Kirei on a shoulder. "Be at peace."

Kirei smiled, and nodded.

* * *

Cerberus bowed as Archer sat on his throne, clapping in approval. "Well done," he said. "Very well done, Cerberus. You have not disappointed in your conduction of Tokiomi's trial. A bit simple, but sometimes, simplicity is enough. A single choice, made in the dark and on the knife's edge, to show the kind of man he truly was."

"I believe Kirei described him as less a man, and more a machine." Cerberus answered.

Archer snorted. "Machines at least have meaningful purpose." He said. "Whether a press meant to produce oil from olives, a pen to write with, or a wheel to make pottery with or for a chariot to roll with on the ground, even swords, spears, bows and arrows…the purpose behind them has meaning. Tokiomi and his kind's purpose…what does it serve?"

"None." Cerberus answered in a matter-of-fact way. "They seek the Root simply for its own sake. In their eyes, that is purpose enough."

Archer scoffed. "If so," he said. "Then they should just all take their lives and be done with it."

"Death _is _a sure way to reach the Root."

Archer laughed. "Of course _you _would know that." He said.

Cerberus smiled and bowed. "It is the source of my greatest gift." She said.

"Indeed," Archer said with a nod. Then both of them paused as Tokiomi actually entered the room, holding a doll that – disturbingly – resembled his elder daughter. The man didn't seem to register them, holding a conversation with the doll as he approached a shelf, and taking a book walked back out. Archer laughed at the sight.

"He's gone completely mad." He said. "And yet for all that he is much more interesting now than when he was sane. A jester in full…and because of that, he serves his king to greater satisfaction than before."

Cerberus was silent. "Nothing to say?" Archer asked with a knowing smile.

"I have my answer." She said. "I have nothing more for him."

Archer laughed. "Indeed." He said.

"He would have betrayed you." Cerberus observed after a moment.

"I know." Archer said with disgust. "I have foreseen it. But it is not meet to judge an act before it is committed. He might have surprised me, though I doubt it. Regardless, how very like him to think a command spell would work on me, whether one or two, or even more. Pretenders might be different, but to the king…they are but favors to be invoked, and to which the king reserves the right to deny as he deems necessary."

Cerberus again stayed silent, and then Archer waved a hand dismissively in the air. "Enough about that," he said. "Cerberus, what do you plan to do about that dead god waiting for its chance to pollute my garden?"

"I fully intend to destroy the Grail." Cerberus answered. "But first, I must remove the possibility of Einzbern's intervention, should they think they can salvage something from it. And of course, I am preparing countermeasures in case Angra Mainyu somehow manifests an avatar as it did in my world."

Archer nodded, and then narrowed his eyes. "Proceed with your plans for Einzbern." He said. "I grant you freedom in that. But, on the matter of Angra Mainyu manifesting an avatar, should it come to pass then _I _will deal with it personally."

Cerberus blinked. "You will face it yourself, Your Majesty?" she asked.

"Of course," Archer answered. "This world is my garden. All that exist within it belong to me, and all who dwell within my subjects. They have grown weak and purposeless, but they are still _my _people. No one else has the right to pass judgment on them for their sins, least of all a god in this day and age. For this is the Age of Man, where the gods are dead and gone, as they ought to be. For a god to return from the abyss into which their accursed reign was rightly cast into, and to dare pass judgment on this world and seek to remake it in its image…it is unforgiveable. Ten thousand deaths would not suffice, and _I _am here. _I _shall pass judgment, and teach that mongrel divinity its place, before casting it back into the abyss!"

Cerberus smiled with anticipation. "It will be quite the spectacle." She said, and Archer laughed.

"Indeed it shall be, child of twilight." He said. "Should it come to pass then be honored, for you shall witness the power and grandeur of the one true king."

Cerberus bowed low, and with a hand Archer dismissed her. Rising in silence, Cerberus turned and left.

* * *

"Excuse me, is anyone here?"

Lancer blinked at the sound of a woman's voice, and then making his way through the ruins that were his and his Master's lair, watched from the shadows a pretty young woman wandering through the ruins. She looked lost, and while Lancer wanted to – and would – help, he still groaned inwardly. He knew what his face could do to the fairer sex.

_Gods…why…?_

"Can I help you?" Lancer asked, walking out of the ruins. The young woman turned, and then she smiled.

"Indeed you can, Lancer."

In the next instant, a spear was drawn and aimed at the young woman. "Assassin, I presume?" he asked.

"I am." Assassin said with a bow. "And I come with a message. And by all means, use your other spear to address suspicions you might have to it being…enchanted, to cause harm to your master."

"Place it on the ground, and walk away slowly."

Assassin did as asked and moving slowly forwards, Lancer picked up the letter placed on the ground. Briefly breaking eye contact with Assassin, Lancer touched Gae Dearg's tip against the letter, and shattering any spells thereon. Opening it, it didn't seem to be poisoned, though worryingly addressed to Sola-Ui instead of to Kayneth.

_They know. They're watching._

"Very well," Lancer said. "You have delivered your Master's message, which I will relay to my Master. You may go."

Assassin bowed, and then vanished into astral form. Lancer stood alone and waiting for a few moments, and then hurried back further into the ruins. "Lady Sola," he began, as he approached his current Master. "Assassin passed by. She's brought a message addressed to you from her Master."

"For me?" Sola-Ui asked, taking the letter and hurriedly reading it. "I see…so they know. They know I'm your new Master, and where we are. Which means they're spying on us."

"So it would seem."

Sola-Ui thought for a few moments. "We'll have to find a new hideout." She finally said. "But first…"

"The message?" Lancer asked, and Sola-Ui nodded.

"Yes," she said. "It's an invitation for a talk this afternoon, at a public place in the daylight. I'm to come with you, and Cerberus is to come with Assassin."

"It doesn't seem to be a trap." Lancer remarked.

"No, it doesn't." she said. "I suppose there's no reason not to go. Might as well hear what they want to say."

"…perhaps you might wish to consult with Lord Kayneth about this matter?"

Sola-Ui shot him an unhappy glance at that, but Lancer's face was resolute and unmoved. Finally, Sola-Ui sighed and nodded. "Very well," she said. "I'll consult his opinion. Though given his current state, I'll take it under advisory."

Lancer wasn't too happy about that, but he couldn't fault her reasoning either. Staying silent, he simply bowed in acknowledgement.

* * *

A/N

Fun fact: groups of hyenas are called 'clans', which can number up to eighty hyenas. They're also matriarchal apparently, with female hyena being in charge of the clans. Funny that, considering all major Edelfelts in canon – Luvia, her unnamed twin mentioned in _El-Melloi Case Files_, the Edelfelt twins from the third war (one of whom was Tokiomi's mother) – are all women.


	15. Part XV

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part XV

"Impressive."

Assassin smiled, a sight as terrifying as it was gratifying, thanks to the silver half-mask that she wore. "My thanks," she said, while continuing to apply makeup to the hypnotized man before them. "But as you already know, I am and remain a seductress. And while I have been described as alluring even without the aid of makeup, in my experience, makeup can magnify the effect to affect those who otherwise would not be affected. Or, should they have different tastes, to cater to their tastes. Nor is it limited to matters of seduction. You'd be surprised what effect a touch of dye to the hair, a drop of tincture to the eyes, and some dusting on the skin of colored powder could have."

"People on the lookout just don't seem to notice?" Cerberus asked.

"Indeed," Assassin said with a nod, and applying the finishing touches. "Right up until they're choking thanks to a drop of poison on their spoon, or their throats have been slit."

"Poison on the spoon?" Cerberus asked in surprise. "Wait…why not their food…oh…oh, now _that _is very clever."

Assassin smirked at her Master while working on the man's hair. "Most would normally expect poison to be added to food or drink." She said. "Their means of protection are thus focused on those, most commonly by food or wine tasters. Plenty of times I've had them pronounce food or drink safe for consumption, only to be executed later on when their masters die of poisoning and they are suspected of colluding with myself, or any others of my brothers and sisters."

"Callous."

Assassin shrugged. "Perhaps," she said. "But it was nothing personal."

"Indeed," Cerberus said with a nod. "I'm nowhere near as good or as famous as you, but I can understand."

Assassin chuckled. "Regardless, I am thankful that my Master is of a kindred spirit." She said.

Cerberus chuckled herself. "You are welcome." She said.

Master and Servant fell silent for the next several minutes, until finally Assassin took a step back. "There," she said, washing her hands in a nearby basin of water. "It's finished."

Cerberus walked closer to examine the man in question, and smiled at the virtually-perfect appearance of Kiritsugu Emiya the man now sported. "Excellent," she said, before gesturing at a nearby pile of clothes. "Put those on, and then meet me at the armory."

"Yes, my lady."

The man silently stood up, took the clothes, and walked off to dress. Cerberus waited until Assassin had finished cleaning her hands, and then gesturing with her head, led the way to the armory.

Cerberus' armor stood on a rack in one corner of the room, with her bodysuit hanging on another rack next to it. Her _wakizashi _rested on a wooden stand affixed to one wall, while shelves held boxes full of _shuriken_, as well as ammunition. 9x19mm Parabellum, 7.62x51mm NATO, .50 BMG, and 12-gauge shells marked as either buckshot or slugs.

The weapons for them rested on top of tables in the middle of the room, ranging from Glock 17 handguns to H&K MP5 Submachine Guns, and Remington 870 Shotguns. Disassembled automated turrets rested in wooden boxes neatly stacked along the walls, while resting in one corner was a metal case usually used to carry heavy sniper rifles to and from the battlefield.

Other boxes carried explosives, or spare parts and tools. Cerberus ignored them all, and instead heading for one of the tables, picked up a Glock and briefly examined it. Her examinations done, she went for one of the shelves on the wall, and opening an ammo box loaded and chambered the Glock.

"Open a window." Cerberus ordered, and Assassin complied. Cerberus then raised her gun, two-handed, and fired one, twice, three times, at a tree several meters distant, all three shots striking the same spot one after another.

"Impressive aim." Assassin remarked.

"My uncle has a thing for guns." Cerberus said. "Technically illegal, but when you have money and influence, there's a lot you can get away with. My dad didn't care much for it, but uncle did teach us proper gun safety before even letting us handle one of his guns, so…"

Cerberus shrugged before removing the clip, and then ejecting the chambered round. Flipping the safety back on, she set the gun down before popping the round back into its clip, and then loaded it back into the gun.

Master and Servant then turned to look as their Kiritsugu lookalike entered, and Cerberus handed him the gun. She then pulled out a gem, and held it out for him. "Swallow this." She said. "You'll have two hours to finish the job before the effects wear off, and you won't be able to slip in and out of those bounded fields they set up around the place. So make sure you get the job done in that time."

"Yes, my lady."

The man took the gem and swallowed it, and then turned to leave to do his job. "Once you're done," Cerberus said in parting. "Find a public restroom, and then wash the hair coloring and makeup off. Go home, and forget about everything that happened today. You can keep the gun as a gift."

"Yes, my lady."

Cerberus and Assassin watched as the man left, and then turned to each other. "Now then," she said. "Shall we go and meet Lancer and his Master?"

"Yes, my Master."

* * *

Lancer sat ill at ease next to Sola-Ui at a café, a mug of coffee sitting untouched in front of him. In contrast, Sola-Ui was completely at ease, alternating between reading a fashion magazine and taking elegant sips from a cup of French Vanilla. No matter what she might think of Oriental magi, the Japanese did have good fashion sense. Already, the magus had it in mind to visit several high-end Japanese clothing stores once the war came to an end before returning to Europe.

Sensing the presence of a Servant at the same time as the café doors opened, Lancer and Sola-Ui alike looked up to see a woman in a black and white dress enter, trailed by the same woman Lancer had intercepted earlier during the day in their own hideout. "_Assassin._" Master and Servant shared the same thought, though their eyes quickly turned to the elusive Cerberus.

Cerberus and Assassin ignored them for now, in favor of ordering their drinks. Once they'd done that, they quickly turned to Lancer and Sola-Ui, and walking over sat down at their table.

"Good afternoon," Cerberus began. "I'm thankful you accepted my invitation."

"We arrived before you." Sola-Ui said, closing the magazine and setting it aside.

"My apologies," Cerberus said with a nod. "But something needed attending to, and it took more time than expected."

Sola-Ui shrugged indifferently. "So," she began. "What did you want to talk about?"

Cerberus hummed while taking a drink of her coffee. "First," she began while setting her mug down. "You wouldn't mind if we discussed this in…privacy, would you?"

Sola-Ui raised an eyebrow at that, and then shrugged in the next moment. "Go ahead." She said.

Cerberus smiled before muttering a few words in Russian, a finger tracing a pattern on the table as a bounded field fell into place around them. "Moving on," she said. "Congratulations on becoming Lancer's new Master."

Sola-Ui again raised an eyebrow, wondering whether or not Cerberus was genuinely congratulating her or was being sarcastic about it, and whether or not there was a threat there. It was, after all, another reminder that Cerberus knew where they were hiding, that she was watching, and as far back as when Sola-Ui had taken command of Lancer.

After a moment, she decided not to press the issue, at least at present. "Kayneth is…incapable, of acting as Lancer's Master." Sola-Ui said. "So it should only be expected that I take over in his place. And besides, I've been the one to provide prana for him all this time. You could say I've got more of a claim on him than Kayneth does, even if he was the one who summoned Lancer in the first place."

"I…see…" Cerberus uncertainly said. "How does that even work? That Kayneth had the command spells but you were the one to provide Lancer with prana?"

"Bold, aren't we?" Sola-Ui remarked with a mocking smile. "Trying to pry into Kayneth's mysteries?"

Cerberus smiled. "Fair enough," he said. "Though couldn't you at least spare the generalities?"

Sola-Ui made a show of considering the matter, and then she shrugged. "I suppose I could." She finally said. "Though to be honest I'm not entirely sure of the details myself. Anyway…despite our differences, even I can't deny Kayneth was a true genius, the kind that appears only once every few generations. And in our situation, this was well proven how despite lacking the founding families' knowledge and resources with regard to the Grail, he was able to determine the system's functions and manipulate it such that he as the one who summoned Lancer had the command spells, while I provided the prana."

"That's…not really any more than what we've already deduced."

Sola-Ui shrugged. "I won't discuss the details." She said. "And even if I would, as I said, I'm not entirely sure about them. Is there anything else you'd like to speak about?"

"I do."

"Oh?"

"I'll get straight to the point." Cerberus said, something in her expression and voice catching Lancer and Sola-Ui's attention. "There's a dead god trapped in the Grail, and if anyone uses it, it'll trigger the apocalypse."

There was dead, utter silence. And then…

"What proof do you have?" Lancer demanded.

In response, Cerberus tossed him a scroll, which he opened and read, Sola-Ui doing likewise over his shoulder. "…on pain of destruction of her mystic eyes…" she murmured. "Kirsikka Edelfelt…speak the truth…during the discussion at the following time and date…valid only for that discussion…"

Eyes turned back to Cerberus who briefly activated her mystic eyes. "Alright," Sola-Ui said, all trace of her usual childishness gone, the magus fully in control now. "Start talking. What is this god, where did it come from, how did it get in the Grail, what it plans to do, and what do you plan to do about it?"

* * *

"Lady Sola, are you alright?"

"No, I am not." Sola-Ui growled.

Master and Servant alike strolled through the ruins, making for the room where Kayneth was resting in. "Bad enough we have to clean up Einzbern's mess," she snarled. "But I actually have to get input from…well, never mind."

Lancer looked very unhappy, but Sola-Ui ignored him for now, the urgency of their situation partially drowning out the magically-induced infatuation she was under. "If this isn't dealt with properly," she muttered after a moment. "Heads are going to roll. Well, Einzbern's heads will roll, one way or another. But I'll be damned if my head will be among those."

Lancer hesitated for a moment, and then spoke up. "Or Lord Kayneth's, for that matter." He opined.

"…yes."

The rest of the walk was made in silence, until finally they reached the room. "Kayneth," Sola-Ui began as she stepped into the room. "We've…!"

Sola-Ui broke off with a horrified gasp, Lancer pulling her back behind him. Kayneth lay still and lifeless on his gurney, his face twisted in shock and agony, the white of his sheets soaked through with blood, which dripped from the edges onto the ground below.

"H-h-he's dead." Sola-Ui breathed. "Someone killed him."

Lancer grit his teeth, and then briefly closing his eyes roared his rage and grief to the skies above. "_Again!_" he thought. "_Each and every time! I cannot fulfil my duty to my lord! Whether to serve him until an honorable death, or to bring him his prize, or to protect his life! Why? Why can't I ever…!_"

He turned to Sola-Ui who staggered away at the fire in his eyes. "Is there any way to know who did this?" he demanded.

Sola-Ui blinked. "T-there should be." She stammered out. "I mean…we could tap into the bounded fields' records to see who slipped in here and did all…all that."

"Do it!"

Sola-Ui felt irritation surge at Lancer's tone, but did it anyway. In the eyes of their minds, they saw as Kayneth brooded in his bed, and then both gasped in recognition as Kiritsugu Emiya walked into the room. Nor were they the only ones, Kayneth reacting with horror and frantically pleading with Kiritsugu, only to be wordlessly cut off as Kiritsugu pulled out a gun and fired repeatedly into Kayneth's chest.

Unbidden, Sola-Ui's eyes strayed to the floor, and noted the spent casings lying around. Then she sharply turned to Lancer at the sound of breaking rock, and Sola-Ui saw he had literally punched a hole in the wall.

"Lady Sola!" he began. "We cannot let this pass! Lord Kayneth had already been beaten, stripped of his magic and power, and reduced to a cripple in bed! And yet that shameless cur would dare invade my lord's bedchamber, and kill him even though he posed no further threat! As a Knight of Fianna and his sworn retainer, this cannot be borne! And you are his wife! We both have a duty to avenge him!"

Sola-Ui didn't respond immediately. By this point, the shock of seeing Kayneth dead in his bed had worn off, and inwardly she felt only satisfaction at the fact, and knowing now there was no further chance that she would be chained to such a man as him. And she had no inclination whatsoever to avenge him.

Indeed, if anything, she was very grateful to Kiritsugu Emiya.

But…she couldn't just say as such to Lancer. He wouldn't understand, at least right now. Maybe in the future…yes…just maybe…

"I understand how you feel, Lancer." Sola-Ui began, and taking a step closer. "But we can't afford to oppose Emiya, Einzbern, and Saber right now."

"What?"

"Think, Lancer!" Sola-Ui held her ground. "We may yet have to confront a divine avatar, and an army of demons born of the Grail's corruption! If that happens, we'll need Saber as an ally, not as an enemy. And if we fight them now…which also assumes you'll win…"

Lancer drew himself up. "I do not fear death." He firmly said.

"No, I don't think you do." Sola-Ui said. "But having you on our side in the worst-case scenario would be very helpful. And if you die fighting against Saber right now…would Kayneth approve of you leaving me defenseless in the face of Emiya and Einzbern's tender mercies?"

Lancer looked away, and then with a snarl of disgust kicked away a rock. "No," he admitted. "He would not."

Sola-Ui nodded, though inwardly she was screeching in triumph. "Don't worry, Lancer." She said. "There _will _be vengeance for Kayneth. Emiya under Einzbern's employ was also the one who destroyed Kayneth's ability to use magic, and his family's crest in the process. El-Melloi will not allow any of his actions to slide, and when this war ends, there will be consequences, consequences Emiya and Einzbern will be made to face, no matter what."

"…in short, be patient."

"Yes." Sola-Ui said with a nod. "Be patient."

"…I understand." Lancer said, and then turning away walked off to find a quiet spot and think.

* * *

"Might I ask what purpose there was in ending Lord El-Melloi's life?"

"It's a favor to the El-Melloi in general, and to the Lord El-Melloi II in the particular."

Cerberus and Assassin were back at Ryuudo, standing in a shadowed corner and watching as Rin, Sakura, and Issei played under the watchful but indulgent eyes of Aoi. "Lord El-Melloi was a true genius," Cerberus said. "But he was also an inflexible conservative. Not much would have changed or improved under his continued leadership…assuming of course he remained leader, considering his state. But, even if he'd been pushed to the background, so long as he lived, then he'd still have influenced his successor, his younger sister, Lady Reines El-Melloi Archisorte."

Cerberus paused to look up at the sky. "There is no reason to believe that El-Melloi will not place ultimate blame on Waver Velvet for Lord El-Melloi's downfall as they did in my world." She said. "Nor is there any reason for El-Melloi to not face complete ruin in the aftermath, only to be saved by Waver Velvet's compilation and publication of his research."

"Would he still do such a thing?"

"Yes, he would." Cerberus said with a nod. "It's not in his character to do otherwise, barring his death in the near future. And here's to hoping that doesn't happen."

"May I assume you, no, we will be doing more than hoping?"

"You may."

Assassin scoffed in good humor, but said nothing. "With El-Melloi's fortunes secured," Cerberus predicted. "Waver Velvet shall be taken in by Reines El-Melloi, as the new Lord El-Melloi II. And under his leadership, El-Melloi will not merely prosper anew, but change for the better. Blood will not be primary factor in their determination of worth, but genuine talent and meritorious achievement. All will be made better by Lord El-Melloi's death."

"Assuming of course, everything proceeds as you predict, Master."

"…perhaps." Cerberus admitted. "But I see no reason why it would not."

Assassin hummed noncommittally. "In any case," she said. "It is not my place to judge your plans and intentions, Master. I am the blade in your hands, nothing more."

"Hmm…come on, we've got work to do."

"Yes, my Master."

* * *

The Moon shone down with cold, pale light as Cerberus and Assassin melted out of the shadows, and then climbing the stairway made their way to and inside Kotomine Church. Risei and Kirei were there, as were Kiritsugu, Irisviel, and Saber.

"So," Cerberus began, while removing her helmet. "What's so important we're all here tonight?"

"Tohsaka and Matou aren't here." Risei dryly said.

"No thanks to you, of course." Kiritsugu added. "Couldn't you have just finished the matter cleanly?"

"I did finish them cleanly." Cerberus protested.

"…I'll concede that much with regard to Zouken." Kiritsugu said after a moment. "And I've got nothing against you for letting Byakuya run away with his tail between his legs, seeing as I'd have done the same thing. He's not worth killing."

"But?"

"Couldn't you have just killed Tokiomi Tohsaka, instead of leaving him a delusional loon?"

Cerberus glanced at Risei. "You told them?" she asked.

"Yes." The priest said. "Kirei added further details, and Emiya has his own eyes and ears."

Cerberus rubbed her temples before turning back to Kiritsugu. "About Tokiomi Tohsaka, it was necessary." She said. "Death was too good for him. Too…lenient, a punishment for his crimes."

"Lenient?" Irisviel protested. "You made him think he'd killed his own family. That he'd arrived too late to save his other daughter…!"

"If Illyasviel von Einzbern had been kidnapped – the closest analogy seeing as I know neither of you would be pimping her out like that fool Tokiomi did to his younger child – and had been raped and tortured for a year to the point that she's reduced to a hollow shell who can't even think of defying in any way her tormentors, what would you do?"

Irisviel couldn't answer, instead looking very stricken. "Funny about Illya…" Kiritsugu began with a strange voice. "But I see your point. No…I wouldn't just have killed them. I'd send them to hell, and make sure they stay there. Alright Edelfelt, looks like you really did make the right call."

Cerberus nodded, and Kiritsugu sighed. "Anyway," he said. "Let's get to the point. Iri and I have been talking things over, and well, we've decided that if the choice is between unleashing a god of evil on the world or destroying the Grail, then we have to destroy the Grail."

"But?"

Kiritsugu nodded. "We've considered trying to fix the Grail," he said. "But without access to Einzbern's mainframes, we don't know if that's even possible. And we don't have remote access, and attempts to get Iri's relatives to do that for us have only seen one response."

"Let me guess," Cerberus said with another sigh. "They refuse to admit they did wrong about that whole Avenger fiasco back in the third war, that they have to look into repairing the Grail much less destroy it, and insist that you continue with your given mission and winning the war, bring the Grail back to Germany."

"…pretty much."

"…so, what's next?"

"As Kiri said," Irisviel began. "We're prepared to destroy the Grail to prevent the apocalypse. But, Einzbern has our daughter. She was modified in my womb while I was pregnant with her to be a homunculus like me, and given further modifications, she could become a Lesser Grail. Had we won this war, those modifications would not be necessary, and ones already made would be reversed, but seeing as this war cannot be won…"

"If we destroy the Grail," Cerberus said with narrowed eyes. "The gods know what they might do to her."

"Exactly," Kiritsugu said with a nod.

"We want an exchange, Kirsikka Edelfelt." Irisviel said. "We'll help you destroy the Grail, and in return you help us get our daughter back, before you go back to your world."

Cerberus nodded slowly. "Seems fair," she said, and holding out a hand. After a moment Kiritsugu took and shook it. "Alright, I'll draw up a plan and send it to you for evaluation and adjustment as needed."

"Good idea," Kiritsugu said with a nod. "I've spent years at Castle Einzbern. I know its layout, and its defenses, at least in part. And Iri here probably knows more than I do. Any plan we come up with will need what we know."

"Right." Cerberus said another nod.

"So," Kiritsugu began. "What's your plan with regard to the Grail?"

"Simple, really." Cerberus said. "Less chance of it going wrong that way. Basically, I cut up the Grail, and then blow up the supports."

"So…what you did in your timeline during the fifth war?"

"Yes. It worked then, so why wouldn't it work now?"

"Ever heard of the saying no plan survives contact with the enemy?" Kiritsugu dryly asked. "Can you tell me there were no complications in that fight?"

"…well, there was the avatar…its Servant…an army of demons…Father Kotomine's evil alter ego…okay, fair enough."

"I don't think it would be able to summon an avatar, though." Irisviel mused. "Not like what happened in her world. The avatar after all was based on me, because in that world, the fourth war reached its conclusion and I became the Grail in full. That hasn't happened here, and it won't, not with only one Servant dead. And without an avatar, it can't summon a Servant of its own, or even an army of demons."

"We shouldn't assume that it won't be able to do anything to resist us." Kiritsugu said. "And our daughter aside, there will likely be complications afterwards. Edelfelt…what happened after the war?"

"…the Clock Tower sent Lord El-Melloi II to confirm the Grail's destruction." Cerberus said. "They also tried Tohsaka on a number of trumped up charges, though Lord Zelretch's arrival in the middle of the trial ended up with every lord getting publicly reprimanded by both the Wizard Marshal and the Vice Director for wasting so much time and effort on a hollow basis…and oh yeah, there was this…weird, incident."

"What 'weird' incident?" Kiritsugu asked.

Cerberus made a vague gesture. "Some American magus decided to try and salvage what was left of the Grail," she said. "Brought a giant airship with her along with an army of some sort…didn't help her seeing as the King of Heroes was waiting for her. One shot from his Noble Phantasm, and the airship, the American magus, and most of her army were dead and gone. Then we hunted down what was left of her army."

"…Kiri?"

Kiritsugu pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sounds like this Grail is worth more trouble than it's worth." He muttered.

"You mean it wasn't?" Risei sourly asked.

"…yes."

Risei muttered something in Latin before gesturing to his son. "Kirei," he said. "We'll need to send a message to Rome, tell them about an American magus with an airship and an army. If it took a Heroic Spirit to deal with her, we might need to have the Burial Agency make an investigation."

"…Narbareck is going to love this." Cerberus murmured.

"You know Narbareck?" Kirei asked in surprise.

"I know of her." Cerberus corrected. "But I don't know her. And I don't want to. Last I heard of her going out on the field, it resulted in a bloodbath that would have the Mongols proud."

"That…sounds accurate."

"Except it was only Narbareck and no one else."

"That still sounds accurate."

"As interesting as this conversation is," Kiritsugu said while pinching his nose again. "We're getting off-topic. From the sound of things, if this is dealt with quietly, then the Association won't care. All well and good, but if not done properly…"

"Meh," Cerberus said dismissively. "They can have the loon. They can have his crest too, and everything else he has. As long as we get his wife and kids, then the Clock Tower can have everything else."

"As long as we get our daughter back safe and sound…" Irisviel agreed with a glance at Kiritsugu, and he nodded.

"Fair enough…" he said with a sigh. "Now then, let's talk about the Grail."

Cerberus nodded, and activating her omni-tool, projected the Grail's schematics into the air. Irisviel then used her metal strings to add onto and provide details on the Grail, and then the three of them began discussing the Grail and how to properly destroy it.

* * *

A/N

We're finally approaching the end…and Cerberus starts shows her limits. Specifically, she assumes much will go as it did in her world, in particular with regard to Waver. Only Waver hasn't had the character development he'd otherwise have, from witnessing the pile of children's corpses in Caster's lair, the Army of the King, and (potentially) the final battles between Saber and then Archer.

Apart from that though, Iri and Kiri (huh…their nicknames rhyme…never noticed that before) finally decide to go rogue. Smart choice.


	16. Part XVI

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Part XVI

The Sun shone down from clear skies on a city bustling with life, people going to and fro on their daily routines. Along a certain street, pedestrians went about on their business, ignoring the all-too-common sight of a young woman standing in an out-of-the-way corner, smoking a cigarette to pass the time.

And then heads were turning at the harsh sound of tires screeching against asphalt, and of brakes protesting against abrupt deceleration. They watched as a car turn the distant corner barely in control, miraculously staying on the road before speeding down, and then abruptly coming to a halt in front of a certain café. Curiosity lingered for a few more moments, and then people were back in their usual routine.

Doors opened and a faintly-exasperated Kiritsugu stepped out, followed by a cheerful Irisviel and a stoic Saber. Cerberus put out her cigarette, and then stepping out into the street walked towards the trio of misfits.

"Good morning," she cheerfully greeted them. "Nice driving…seriously. Who was the driver?"

Kiritsugu jerked a thumb in his wife's direction, Irisviel weakly laughing while rubbing the back of her head. "Seriously, that wasn't a bad drift at all." Cerberus said, Kiritsugu visibly tripping as Cerberus stepped up to his wife. "A bit more practice, and you'd be able to get into any informal racing circuit in this part of the world."

"Really?" Irisviel asked, intrigued.

"Yes, really!" Cerberus said. "Trust me, I know. My cousin runs a…racing circuit, in Tokyo, and sometimes goes racing at Hakone. Shame I can't introduce you, he'd very much love to meet you…or can I?"

Kiritsugu coughed pointedly. "Can we please get down to business?" he asked.

"Right…yes, of course!" Cerberus said, walking over and then past Kiritsugu towards the café. Above the old world façade, (deliberately) tarnished letters spelled out 'Ahnenerbe' in Roman characters. "Come on, I need to show you something. But first, let me warn you. There are…strange, sights in this café at times. Don't let it get to you."

Kiritsugu snorted. "We'll be fine." He said. "We've had our fair share of strange sights over the years."

"Right, I suppose you did. Still, just to make sure no one can blame me for not warning you…"

Pushing the door open, Cerberus led the way into the café, Kiritsugu following with his wife and Servant, the trio pausing just past the door to regard the café around them. The inside was just as old-fashioned as the outside, the floors paneled in wood, the round tables and their sturdy chairs also likewise made from wood.

The bar counter also seemed to be made from wood, and the wallpapered walls decorated with ornamental plates, displays, and even paintings. Small ones, but paintings still for all that. Together with the deliberate, smoky half-light of the interior, the café had a charming, old world air to it.

"Feels just like home." Irisviel remarked.

"Yes, it does." Saber agreed.

"Seems nice…" Kiritsugu began, only to trail off as…something, sitting at the bar turned to regard them, or rather Cerberus, in particular.

"Miss Matou," an anthromorphic…cat (?), said, holding a lit cigarette in one paw and blowing out puffs of smoke as he did so. "Considering your company, I imagine you're here for business."

"Yes I am, Chaos." Cerberus replied, already crossing the café, while Kiritsugu and his companions stared at the cat (?) person. Persons, actually: there was more than one of them. There was another next to Chaos, female going by the clothes, with pink hair and a tail waving around behind her.

The bartender was also one of them, blonde this time, looking tired and sleepy, murmuring to herself while cleaning a set of shot glasses. "Time machine's still in same spot, right?" Cerberus asked.

"Of course," Chaos replied. "It's not like any of us can move it, considering how big and heavy it is."

"Time machine?" the female cat-person sitting next to Chaos murmured while lifting a glass of whiskey to her lips. "So much effort and money put into building it, and for what? It's not like you can really change anything, can you? Destiny is…inevitable, one way or another."

Cerberus actually paused at that, and then laughing winked and mimed shooting pistols at the cat-person with her fingers. "Not if you're lucky," she said. "Luck changes fate ahead of time, remember?"

"Well, I wouldn't know." The female cat-person said. "I'm not a magus. I'm just someone unlucky in love or money, otherwise why would I be here?"

Cerberus laughed again. "Stay strong, Destiny." She said, resuming her walk towards a door towards the back. "I'm sure you'll get lucky someday."

"Hmm…"

Kiritsugu and company quickly rushed over and joined Cerberus to the back. "Okay," Kiritsugu conceded. "That was the strangest thing I've seen in a long time, and by far the strangest conversation I've ever heard. And I've seen and heard a _lot _over the years. What were those…uh, people?"

"No idea," Cerberus said with a shrug. "They work and live here apparently, and considering what this place is, it makes sense in context."

"And what exactly is this place?" Irisviel asked. "It feels…strange. Disconnected…elsewhere…as though we're…everywhere…and nowhere, at the same time."

"It's a café." Cerberus answered. "And a very good café at that. They serve good food and drink here. But, like with many things in our world, there's more than what meets the eyes."

"Enough games, Cerberus." Saber snapped. "Answer us: what is the secret behind this place?"

"It sits on a convergence of timelines."

"WHAT?" Kiritsugu and Irisviel yelled in surprise.

"Yeah, I know it sounds unreal and unbelievable, but it's the truth." Cerberus said, looking at them in the eyes. "My – and my relatives' – investigation into this place have confirmed a connection with the Wizard Marshal, but like with all things involving that man, anything more than that is hard to get in concrete form. Again, like with all things involving that man, we can only trust that he had good reason setting all this up. Oh, we also uncovered _possible _connections with Miss Blue as well, but that's unsubstantiated."

"How exactly does sitting on a convergence of timelines work?" Irisviel worriedly asked. "I have my suspicions already, but seeing as you seem to have more…experience, with this place, would you care to enlighten us?"

"This place normally works at random." Cerberus said, resuming leading them through a maze of corridors and hallways past a number of doors. "Most of the time, nothing happens. Sometimes though…you come in, do your business, and then you come out to find yourself in a completely different timeline. The only constant is the café, which is apparently a constant, an absolute, given it stands on the convergence."

"…I assume you have good reason to risk that happening to us?" Kiritsugu ground out.

"I do." Cerberus said, opening the door and leading them out into the open.

There was silence, broken only by the sound of waves smashing against rock and sand, of seabirds flying overhead, and of the ocean breeze blowing through leaves and branches. "Whoa," Kiritsugu gasped. "Where are we?"

"A lonely, uninhabited island in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle." Cerberus answered, closing the door (which along with the surrounding wall stood sticking out like a sore thumb on a rocky promontory reaching out into the sea), and making her way up a dirt path, led them to where a machine was standing.

"You see," Cerberus began. "This all happened when a certain something happened to my older sister."

"What happened?" Irisviel asked.

"No idea," Cerberus said with a shrug. "All I know is that it really traumatized her. She moved in with me for a month – just for clarification, we're actually half-sisters, same mother but different fathers so we live in different houses – and literally slept in the same bed as me, and even going the extra mile to check in on me regularly. Oh, and she kept telling me she loved me and would never let me go…it was nice, but really…weird. She's not usually so…open, about her feelings. Very weird…"

Cerberus shook her head while Kiritsugu pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you going somewhere with this?" he asked.

"Yes." Cerberus said. "Once she recovered, she began looking into the properties of the convergence under the café, which was the cause of said incident. She then looked into the experimental data she had gotten while replicating the Jeweled Sword of Zelretch, conducted a number of experiments with it and based on the data of all three…developed this."

"A time machine." Kiritsugu said.

"Not quite," Cerberus said. "More like an…anchor, that allows one to control the permutations of the convergence. Instead of operating at random, a user/s can now set their destination, or make sure they won't get…um, temporally-displaced, by just being in the café. Actually, that last is the default setting."

"Surprising the owner let your sister set it up in his café." Kiritsugu said before looking at the deep blue sea around them. "Are we still in the café, even?"

"Yes and no." Cerberus said, gesturing around them and then pointing at the door. "As for why…well, before he used to make money only from the usual café services. Now, he makes money as well from…temporal, tourism."

"Temporal tourism, really?" Kiritsugu asked, an eye twitching.

"Yes, really." Cerberus said, straight-faced.

Elsewhere, in a different time and space, a red-eyed blonde was sunbathing in golden swimwear on a beach in the Bahamas next to her redheaded boyfriend. Though she was **_much_** older than he was, and much of what he could do were mere forgeries, the best of him was without a doubt no forgery. A fine treasure indeed, _very _fine.

As for the age gap, well, what did it matter? She _was_ the rules, after all.

"…what's your point, Cerberus?"

Cerberus walked over to the control panel, and starting a diagnostics program, activated the holographic display. Kiritsugu and Irisviel watched as geometric diagrams began to play out in the air, the former beginning to speak only to break off as a hand from the latter touched his arm. Irisviel watched closely, her Trans-Human mind and her programmed knowledge allowing her to completely understand the geometries dancing before her.

"I see." She said with a nod. "If you can travel through time…then with some modification, you can travel through space as well."

"Yup." Cerberus said with a nod of her own. "At first I thought about assaulting Einzbern head on, but then I discarded that as we'd need an army to do so. Then I thought about infiltration, but the escape plan was problematic. And then I realized the solution was simplicity in itself: what if we could literally just pop in and out?"

"Yes…" Irisviel said with another nod. Moving away, she climbed up the dais onto the platform that made up the heart of the time machine, hand held out as she sensed the mysteries of the machine around her. Looking down at polished and translucent sapphire crystal, and thence into a spiraling cavity lined with kaleidoscopic gems, she then looked up, into a spiraling arrangement of polished and mirrored quartz segments, and sensed what they did. "Your sister is a genius."

"She is." Cerberus agreed. "I'll always be a better killer than her, but she'll always be a better magus. And in time, maybe, just maybe, she'll come to be known as the Lady Second, Wizard Marshal Tohsaka."

Cerberus paused and laughed. "Talk about middle fingers to the ossified hierarchy of the Clock Tower," she said with undisguised delight. "That an 'Oriental monkey' as they tend to see us Asians, would become the Wizard Marshal."

"Yes, yes," Irisviel said dismissively. "But more importantly…yes, this can work."

Stepping down from the dais, she hurried towards Kiritsugu. "We can do this." She said with conviction. "Open a portal, and get into Einzbern without worrying about its defenses. The bounded fields are useless, no matter they're over a thousand years old. Not when they're up against the Second Magic. If anything, they'll just short out the moment we open the portal."

"The response time is less than two minutes." Kiritsugu murmured.

"Then we'll just have to make the most of those two minutes." Cerberus said, and turning off the diagnostic. "Get in. Save the girl. Kill the bad guys who try to stop us. Get out like big damn heroes."

"I'm not a hero." Kiritsugu whispered, and then taking a deep breath, briefly closed his eyes. "Except for my little girl."

Pausing, he met his wife's eyes, Irisviel staring back resolutely. "You really think we can do this?" he asked.

"I do."

Kiritsugu nodded, and then turned back to Cerberus. "Then let's do it." He said. "We just have to be rid of the Grail first."

"Right you are."

* * *

The Sun was beginning to set when Kiritsugu and Maiya arrived at their predetermined spot. "Over there." Maiya said, adjusting the heavy pack she wore behind her. Kiritsugu nodded as he followed, also carrying a heavy pack with him. Locking their car behind them, they made their way to a door used by city personnel to access the undercity.

Picking the lock open, they slipped into the blockhouse and then down the stairs, into the undercity. "What exactly are we looking for?" Maiya asked.

"Nothing in particular," Kiritsugu answered. "Just an approximate point over one of the ley-lines running across the city, and plant a mystic code at that spot."

"You really think that mystic code will work?" Maiya asked.

"Yes." Kiritsugu answered. "I trust my wife, and she came up with this plan."

_Empty mugs were everywhere, along with dirty plates and utensils. Maps marked with colored ink and grease pencils covered a large table, while holograms glowed overhead. Books taken from the libraries of Einzbern and Kotomine Church rested here and there, colored bookmarks sticking from their pages._

_Irisviel affixed pins with colored heads at five points around Mount Enzo, and then another five around the city. "So basically your plan is to disconnect the ley-lines from the Greater Grail," Cerberus began. "And then use those same ley-lines to fuel a counter-magic ritual to short out the magic circuits which make it up, and thus fry the Greater Grail."_

_"Pretty much." Irisviel said._

_"A bit complicated for my taste," Cerberus murmured. "But it does have the advantages of keeping you away from the Greater Grail, and again, to remove the need for us to actually enter the underground ritual chambers."_

_"Yes."_

_"We just have to assemble the mystic codes for it." Kiritsugu observed. "Easy enough to do, once we get back to Einzbern, and enlist the help of the others."_

_"There's one more problem, though." Cerberus observed._

_"And what's that?" Irisviel asked._

_"We don't have a magic circle." Cerberus said with a sigh. "And without a circle to link the codes together into a coherent array…"_

_"Yes, we do." Irisviel interrupted._

_"…what?"_

_"We have a circle." Irisviel said, before summoning one of her familiars. "We just need to map it out when the Sun rises, and adjust the predetermined positions beforehand."_

"You don't trust Iri?" Kiritsugu asked Maiya.

"I do." She said. "It's just that this plan is very…grand. A lot of things could go wrong."

"…when all is said and done, she's still an Einzbern." Kiritsugu said with a sigh. "They like to go big. Though, I don't really mind."

"You really love her, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

"Hmm…"

The rest of the trip through the undercity was made in silence, until Kiritsugu's locator began to beep. "Hold up," he said while pulling it out. "We're almost where we need to be. Follow my lead."

Maiya nodded as Kiri and her continued down the corridor, the sound of rushing water growing louder along with beeping of his locator. And then emerging through a passageway, they found themselves in a wide gallery, water flowing through a deep canal in the middle, electrical wiring sheathed in thick, black rubber running overhead parallel to the canal. The locator's beeping was now a uniform tone, and Kiritsugu nodded in satisfaction.

"We're here." He said, and lowering his pack began to bring out their disassembled mystic code. "Come on, let's finish setting this up."

* * *

Stars glimmered in the velvet skies of the evening, as Waver and Rider set up another one of the mystic codes needed to disable the Greater Grail. "Hey," Waver said while driving the brass weight into the ground with a mallet, and then attaching the steel line running from the central mechanism. "What do you plan to do after this, Rider?"

Rider looked up from where he was doing the same thing as Waver had been. "Hmm," the giant Servant hummed. "That's a good question. I returned to this world on the basis of my greatest desire having a chance to be granted…only for said chance to be false. Thus, I do not know."

"I see."

"What about you, boy?" Rider asked, moving to another spot, equidistant from the others, and began to drive another weight into the ground. "What do you plan to do after the war?"

"I was going to go back to the Clock Tower, and continue my studies." Waver said with a sigh. "…when I joined this war, I hoped to come out of it with the respect of my peers and colleagues. But given the way it's going to go…I don't think that's going to happen."

"Is that so?"

Master and servant worked in silence afterwards, and once all weights had been driven into the ground and lines attached, Waver approached the central mechanism. A large cylinder of polished metal, it was suspended on a tripod over a basin planted into a depression dug into the ground, the basin in turn filled with mercury. A brass pendulum hung from a brass chain over the mercury, hanging from the mechanism's body.

Waver popped a panel open, twisted a set of dials, and then inserted and turned a key. Lights came to life and the machine hummed to life. "There," he said, closing the panel and stepping away. "It's finished."

Rider nodded. "Looks like it." He said, before taking a deep breath and looking up at the sky. "The world's changed a good deal since I've last walked it, hasn't it?"

"It has." Waver agreed, looking at his Servant and wondering where he was going.

"I've read a whole lot about those changes." Rider mused. "The ages that have come and gone, the Roman Era, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance…and it's not just the changes, too. The world's just so much bigger than we ever thought it was."

Waver stared at Rider, and to his surprise, found himself smiling as he realized where the King of Conquerors was going. "Off to see the world, I take it?" he asked.

Rider laughed, and patted Rider hard on the back. "Yeah, I am." He said. "There's more than one way to conquer the world, and while I haven't given up on taking it for myself, I think I ought to learn more about it before giving it a go."

"Hmm…" Waver hummed in thought, also looking up at the stars. "You know, a few centuries back, a common and respected alternative to studying at a university was to take a trip overseas."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Waver said with a nod. "See the world. Experience it. Let it change you. Build character and taste."

Waver paused and sighed. "I did join this war to earn respect and acceptance." He said. "And like I said, given how things have turned out, that's not going to happen. So…why not? It's not like I'm going to be welcome back at the Clock Tower, and I've got no family waiting for me."

Rider laughed, and grabbing Waver's shoulder squeezed hard. "Welcome aboard, boy." He said.

"You're going to need my prana anyway, to keep yourself around." Waver said. "Though we're both going to need money to live with."

"Wait…we do?"

"Yeah…I'll…have to think of something."

"Oh…well, alright. I'll leave it to you then."

* * *

Cerberus held out a trio of passports, along with three tickets for first class flights to Helsinki in Finland. Aoi stared, and then took them with shaking hands. "Your flight will be for tomorrow afternoon." Cerberus said. "But, I suggest you take the time this evening to pack up what you want to take, and then leave for Fukuoka Airport. A lot of things can happen tomorrow morning, and I didn't go to all the trouble involving you three just to see it all wasted if you get caught up in something going wrong. If something going wrong."

"I…see…" Aoi breathed. "And…Tokiomi?"

Cerberus smiled thinly. "Someone has to take the fall." She said simply.

"I…see…"

"Once you get to Helsinki," Cerberus said. "One of your mother-in-law's relatives will be there to pick you up. You'll take a train to Rovaniemi, and then seeing as it is winter, a sleigh to the family estate in the Lapland countryside."

"…what about you?"

"I've got to see things through." Cerberus said, and then she blinked. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. One more thing…Sakura?"

"Yes?" the little girl said, looking up from where she was quietly sitting in the corner. She didn't flinch as Cerberus drew her sword, though Aoi did.

"Show me your tummy."

"Okay."

Sakura got up, and bared her belly. Cerberus' eyes glowed, and then narrowing, homed in on a point weakly flashing inside of Sakura's womb. "_Ah,_" she thought. "_With barely a year of 'training', plus the crest worms gone, few if any of their concepts have been imprinted. Good, very good…and with this, even those will be gone._"

"This might hurt a bit." Cerberus warned, holding her sword flat and aimed at Sakura's belly.

Sakura didn't say anything, and Aoi looked away, blinking away tears as Cerberus slowly – carefully – stabbed Sakura in her belly, cutting through skin and muscle and into her undeveloped uterus, until the tip of Cerberus' sword struck the point. It gave way with no resistance, the Matou mysteries engraved into Sakura body crumbling into nothing.

_There were still be scars. Nothing will ever be as they ought to be._

_But…_

_…it's better than the alternative._

Cerberus pulled out her sword, and then holding a hand over the bleeding cut in Sakura's belly, cast a healing spell that closed all the wounds both inside and outside, and disinfected the surrounding flesh. "All done." Cerberus said, getting up and patting Sakura on the head

Sakura nodded, and then to Cerberus' surprise, gave a very small, nigh-unnoticeable smile. "Thank you." She whispered.

"…you're welcome."

* * *

"Is something the matter, Saber?" Irisviel asked, walking up to the forlorn-looking King of Knights.

"…yes." Saber said softly, lowering her head from where she'd been looking out over the foggy expanse of the Einzbern forest. "I accepted the Grail's call to have the chance to save my kingdom, but in the end it was for naught. I…"

Saber trailed off and sighed. For a long moment, Irisviel was silent, and then smiling, stepped up next to Saber. The King of Knights stared at the woman next to her as Irisviel took Saber's hand and squeezed it.

"It wasn't for naught, as you put it." Irisviel said with a reassuring smile. "Yes, your wish wasn't granted. But, if the worst happens, you'll be helping stop a god of evil from ending the world. How many lives will that save? And even if the worst doesn't happen, you'll still be helping save a little girl from being twisted against her will, and reunite her with her parents."

"But…"

"You're the King of Knights, aren't you Saber?" Irisviel interrupted. "Just as much as you are the King of Britain…in that you have not failed. Thank you being here, and for what's to come."

Saber was silent, and then squeezing Irisviel's hand back, turned once more to the forest before them. "Even if we rescue your daughter," she said softly. "Do you really think your relatives would just let her go?"

"Probably not…" Irisviel sadly said. "But if so…I'll be really grateful if you could stay and help…"

"Hmm…I'll consider it."

Irisviel smiled, and then nodded. "Thank you." She said.

Silence fell, Irisviel and Saber watching the forest in the light of the Moon. Neither knew how long they stood there, until they saw a car make its way out of the forest, and pull up in front of the castle.

* * *

"Well," Cerberus said as she walked into the room, surprisingly carrying her sword with her. "Ryuudo's evacuation is well underway, though I've had to use mental interference quite heavily to make it work for so many and to be done in so quick a time. The Tohsaka – minus the delusional loon – have gone and are taking their things from their mansion. By daybreak, they should be at Fukuoka, waiting for their flight to Finland."

"And your equipment?" Kiritsugu asked.

"Disassembled and taken to Ahnenerbe." Cerberus said. "I've also phoned the Kotomines. Kirei is ready and waiting in case things go wrong."

"I see." Kiritsugu said with a sigh. "Guess all we can do now is wait and hope."

"Hmm…there's one more thing we can do."

"Oh?"

Cerberus gestured at Irisviel. "Disconnect her from the Grail." She said.

"…can it even be done?"

Eyes glowing, Cerberus raised an eyebrow. "Yes, it could be…in theory." Irisviel chimed in. "With proper training, a person with Mystic Eyes of Death Perception could cut spells or even concepts."

"In theory?" Cerberus echoed. "I've done it before."

"Well yes but…have you cut mysteries going back several hundred years? Because that's about how old the Grail system is."

"More like two hundred years or so…" Cerberus said. "But yes. One vampire I've killed was about five hundred years old or so, so yeah, I should be able to do it."

Irisviel and Kiritsugu stared at each other. "I don't like this." Kiritsugu finally said. "It's too risky. Too many unknowns. Too many variables."

"I know." Irisviel swallowed. "But we might have no choice. As long as I have a connection to the Grail, no matter how tenuous, there's always a risk that something might…rebound, through that connection. Whether it's Avenger possessing me, or a backlash from the Grail's destruction, or something else entirely."

"There has to be another way."

"…you know as well as I do that there isn't." Irisviel said. "Not without returning to Germany, to my family, and they will never help us. Not without the Grail. And we cannot bring that back."

Kiritsugu grit his teeth, and then looking away for a few moments, nodded.

* * *

Cerberus pointed at Irisviel's torso, and sighed. "Your ancestors were messed up." She said.

"What?" Irisviel asked.

"Whether it's you or your connection to the Grail," Cerberus growled. "Or the younger Tohsaka girl's…engraving, with Matou mysteries, it's always rooted in the womb for some reason."

"Well, there's certain symbolism there, and…"

"Yes, I know all about the symbolism behind it, and how it can be…meaningful, for magecraft." Cerberus interrupted with a sigh. "It doesn't make it any less disturbing."

"…true."

Cerberus drew her sword, and pointed it at Irisviel's belly. "This is going to hurt." She said.

Irisviel looked unimpressed. "You've never had a child before, have you Cerberus?" she asked.

Cerberus looked confused. "What?" she asked.

"I asked if you've never had a child before."

"No…and I've got no plans to, why?"

"Trust me as someone who's had a child before." Irisviel said. "There's nothing as painful as childbirth…and nothing is as joyful as what comes after."

"I'll…take your word for it."

Irisviel raised an eyebrow, and then smiled mischievously. "Oh?" she said. "Are you…afraid, of having a child? Or could it be that the incarnation of death is an innocent?"

"That is below the belt!" Cerberus hissed, her face red. "Let's…let's just get on with it."

Irisviel giggled at her expense, Assassin struggling to hold back her laughter while Saber's cheeks were red. Kiritsugu…was impassive, though he winced as he saw Cerberus' _wakizashi _piercing his wife's belly.

And then it stopped, and then was withdrawn. "Is that it?" Irisviel asked, quickly applying a healing spell to herself.

"Yeah, it's done."

"…I don't feel different…oh wait…yes, there it is. Or rather, it's not there anymore. Huh…thank you…though…"

"Hmm?"

"No, it's nothing." Irisviel said with a sigh, and beginning to put her clothes back on.

Cerberus cleaned her sword, and then sheathing it, glanced at her wristwatch. "Now," she began while glancing at Kiritsugu. "All we can do is wait and hope."

* * *

A/N

Let's bring things to a close, boys and girls. Teams Emiya and Cerberus scheme to use Rin's time machine to open a wormhole into Illya's suite in Germany, while evacuations are performed in case Irisviel's plan to burn the Grail from the inside-out has unexpected side-effects.

And as shown in _Kara no Kyoukai_, MEoDP allows its user to cut spells or even concepts. Shiki Tohno's flawed eyes_ might _not let him do that, but Shiki Ryougi and Cerberus' eyes don't have his flaws, and so the latter can. In this case, what Matou mysteries the crest worms engraved into Sakura's body, and again with Iri's connection with the Grail.


	17. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Cerberus

Epilogue

"Shirou? Is something wrong?"

A redheaded boy with golden eyes glanced at his mother before shaking his head. "Not…really…" the seven-year old boy – Shirou – hesitantly said. The boy's mother tilted her head, and then walking closer, patted her son on the head.

"Are you not feeling well?" she asked, briefly touching Shirou's forehead. "Does something hurt? Or is it something else?"

Shirou shook his head. "No…" he said. "I just…I don't know…feel like I…forgot…missed something? But I also feel…I don't know…like I want to say thank you…?"

The boy's mother looked lost, as did her son. "…maybe I just forgot to do homework." Shirou eventually said. "Or something else…did I forget something, mom?"

"No, I don't think so."

"You don't think what?" Shirou's father asked as he entered the dining room of their house.

"I don't think Shirou forgot to do anything he needed to do." Shirou's mother answered her husband. "I've checked the list of projects and other schoolwork that needed doing over the weekend, and I don't think Shirou's missed anything else important. Commitments or appointments…unless you remember something?"

"No, I don't think so either." Shirou's father said.

Shirou scratched his head. "I…it's probably nothing." He said.

His parents looked at each other, and then Shirou's father shrugged and gave a laugh. "Maybe you forgot to watch your favorite anime?" he asked while sitting down and preparing to eat his breakfast. "Or is there a new manga issue or video game out?"

"…I don't think I missed anything…or there's anything new…"

"It probably really is nothing." Shirou's mother said with a sigh. "Or…you could be remembering something you dreamed about last night. That's the thing with dreams: you don't always remember after you wake up, apart from maybe some flashes of this and that tugging at your mind."

"That's…probably it." Shirou said with a nod and a smile. "Thanks mom!"

Shirou's mother smiled and patted her son on a cheek. "Go on," she said. "Finish your breakfast. You wouldn't want to be late for school, would you?"

"No, of course not!"

Without any further ado, Shirou turned back to his breakfast and began eating away with childish haste and gusto, his father eating more sedately nearby. As for his mother, she turned back to her other chores in the adjoining kitchen, which really involved just soaking pots and pans and used cooking utensils in the sink before joining her family at the table.

In truth, she too felt somewhat…strange, when she'd woken up earlier that morning. She had been…afraid, feeling as though someone had walked over her grave, and also grateful, for some reason.

She didn't know why or how, she just was. She'd quickly forgotten it though, as she busied herself with her usual morning routine, and would probably never have thought of it again, had not her son brought up something so…similar.

_Maybe…maybe there's more to it? A dream…or a premonition?_

The golden-eyed woman briefly paused, mulling over the thought while chewing a slice of meat and some rice, and then swallowing, washed it down with tea. And then raising her head, she silently and briefly regarded her family.

Her husband…theirs had been an arranged marriage, and while there hadn't been any real problems between them, there hadn't been any real chemistry between them either. Shirou though…her wonderful son…

_If it was a premonition…a premonition that was somehow averted…then to the gods responsible…there are no words to express my thanks…_

* * *

Snow fell in gentle heaps, adding to the great mounds which covered the land as far as the eye could see. They weighed heavy on the trees, whether bare for the season, or dark with evergreen leaves, and on the slate roofs of the main Edelfelt residence in the Lapland countryside.

The golden light of candles and gas lamps shone through windowpanes set in iron frames, and from exterior lights set in marble-fronted walls, those surrounding the residence topped with elegantly-worked, black-finished ironworks. Figures could be seen coming and going through those windowpanes, from menservants in starched black and whites, to maidservants in starched green and whites, and the Edelfelt clansmen, mostly blondes with a sprinkling of brunettes and the odd redhead every so often, all in variations of warm, winter indoors clothing.

"I think this will be fine." Aoi Zenjou said, tapping at one of several dossiers with attached pictures in front, each showing one of several, unused country residences that could be claimed by or offered to Edelfelt branch members by the main family should it prove necessary.

"Hmm…quite a distance from here…" Anneli Edelfelt mused while tapping her chin. "But it's not a bad choice. We'd still have to refit the gas system and plumbing come springtime, and you'll have to meet with the caretaker and his family, but there shouldn't be any real problems with you and your children moving there once all that is done. Also, the location is quite beautiful. Farm county and pasture all around, and a lake within walking distance. The villagers are quite friendly too, from what I hear."

"Sounds good," Aoi said with a sigh. "Though I imagine it'll take some getting used to. I spent my whole life living in a city."

"Hmm…I daresay it comes with starting over."

"Yes…I suppose it does." Aoi said with another sigh, and then she bowed low. "I know I've already said this, but once again, thank you. To you and your husband, thank you for everything you've done for us. For taking us in…and giving us this chance to start over…"

"Come now," Anneli gently interrupted, and just as gently taking her cousin by marriage's hands and squeezing them reassuringly. "There's no need to humiliate yourself. Your being grateful is only to be expected, but to such an extent? You are _family_. How could we do anything less?"

"Yes…you're right…" Aoi said, sniffing and dabbing away at her eyes. "Though I still wish my…husband, had not forgotten what that word meant."

Aoi sniffed again. "I'm sorry." She said after a deep breath. "It's just…fresh, right now."

"I understand." Anneli said with a small smile. "And I don't blame you. But, rest assured, no matter what else can be said about us, we have not forgotten what family means, and what responsibilities and expectations it brings. You and your children will be well taken care of, and will receive all you are due as our kin. On that you have my word, my husband's, and the rest of the family's."

"…thank you…truly…thank you very much."

* * *

Illyasviel 'Illya' von Einzbern huddled in one corner of her suite, bloody bandages wrapped around her arms, legs, and around her forehead. Ever since word had reached Germany of how the Fourth Holy Grail War had simply fizzled out, and how no contact could be had with her parents, the rest of the family had turned cold to her.

Very much so…though the investigation was still ongoing, Illya's grandfather had already deemed her parents' mission a failure, and confirmed her role as the next Lesser Holy Grail. And that decision brought with it repeated surgeries to further modify her body for the role, stricter training marked by harsh discipline wherein every sign of weakness, every mistake and failure, was punished harshly, mostly with brutal reprimands, and at times with light beatings.

And through it all, her grandfather, Jubstacheit von Einzbern, the Old Magus King of Einzbern Castle, had made it clear that if she was to blame anyone for her hardships, it was her parents. They had failed in their duty to win the war and return the Grail to Einzbern, and so that duty now fell to her. And so she had to be prepared, weaknesses cut out before they could cause her to fail as well in her turn, her mind and body shaped to fully face her task without anything that could possibly detract her from her purpose, her reason for existing at all.

But while Illya had quickly latched onto her grandfather's words, if only to find some measure of…understanding, why her life had taken a turn for the worse…deep down, a small, and constantly-growing smaller part of her still hoped that her parents were still alive. That they still loved her, and were even now trying to get to her. To rescue her…to end the pain and hardness of her life…

Illya blinked as she felt the air shift. She lifted her head, her guards lifting their halberds, made from alchemically-forged rhenium alloy stronger than modern tank armor and in the hands of an Einzbern homunculus enough to fight Servants with. The air shifted, the pressure increasing and causing their ears and heads to resound with pain, their noses picking up the stink of ozone.

And then it appeared. On the far side of the suite, a tear split open in reality itself, a point of absolute darkness that was not merely the absence of light itself, but the absence of existence in full. All around it, reality seemed to twist as though it were a film of oil, distorted by something solid poking through liquid, shining with all the colors of the rainbow.

The tear in reality widened, until it was big enough for multiple people to pass through. And then the air pressure abruptly dropped, causing ears to pop, and the darkness shimmered, giving way to the appearance of a tropical island on the other side.

Blurs swept through the portal, one of blue and silver holding aloft golden light, the other black tinged with violet. Then blood fountained and rhenium alloy flew in sparkling shards, as Saber cut one homunculus down with a two-handed, overhead blow, Excalibur shearing through alchemically-forged metal and Trans-Human flesh as though they were made from paper.

The other homunculus swung twice at Assassin, who dodged and then feinted, before striking a poisoned dagger into the homunculus' belly. And as his strength waned, Assassin holding away his weapon arm with an iron grip, she reached up with her free hand and holding his chin, pressed her lips against his.

The homunculus struggled for a few moments, his movements growing ever weaker and more sluggish, until finally Assassin let him go. She helped him lie down on the ground, and pulling her dagger out of his stomach, took his hands and folded it over his wound before closing his sightless eyes.

None of that mattered much to Illya though, for she was focused on who came next through the portal. And for Kiritsugu and Irisviel, all that mattered was their daughter.

"Mama…papa…!"

"Illya!"

"Illya!"

Father…mother…daughter…all three embraced each other tightly, words failing the whole family, tears and each other's presence saying all that needed to be said. And then Cerberus and Maiya were coming through, carrying automated turrets ready for deployment with them.

"Let's hurry it up!" Cerberus said, kneeling down to set up a crossfire on the balcony.

"I know!" Maiya said, doing likewise only for a crossfire on the door.

The two assassins worked hard and fast, but as they approached completion, Cerberus cursed. "Radar's picking up hostiles…" she snapped. "We have to move, now!"

Automated turrets whined as they came to life, turning off safeties and chambering 7.62x51mm NATO rounds. "Cerberus!" Kiritsugu shouted as he pulled off what he was carrying on his back, and tossed it to her. And then picking up his daughter, hurried to the portal followed by Irisviel.

"We'll cover you!" Maiya said, flipping the safety of her MP5 and chambering a round, Assassin and Saber ready to engage nearby.

Cerberus nodded, and then ran further into the suite, and at its heart put down what Kiritsugu had tossed her. A 200-kilogram bomb, impossible to lift if not for reinforcement, with an attached timer and detonator. Cerberus popped open a panel, and inserting and turning a key, typed in the security code.

Gunfire and the sound of steel striking steel could be heard in the distance, but Cerberus ignored that as she armed the bomb, and then removing the key, sealed the panel. "Let's move!" she shouted as she ran back to the portal.

Maiya cursed as she opened fire on full-auto, spraying the ruined doorway with nine-millimeter rounds, the automated turrets doing likewise with rifle-caliber rounds. As Cerberus ran past, she fired a plasma round from her omni-tool, smirking as she heard a homunculus cry out with pain.

And then she was passing through the portal…

…vastinfinitehugeextensiveexpansivebroadwideboundlessimmesurablelimitlessenormousgiganticgreatgiantmassivecolossalmammothimmensetremendousmightystupendousmonumental…

"Close the portal!" she shouted as she ran down the dais, and Kiritsugu did just that. Behind her, the portal closed with the sound and feel of air rushing to fill a vacuum, and only then did all of them relax.

And in distant Germany, Jubstacheit's rage knew no bounds, from Emiya and his family's apparent betrayal, their trespass on his castle, and even inflicting massive damage to said castle.

_There will be a reckoning._

* * *

"Hey, Waver…" Rider grumbled as he looked for his Master, the giant Servant simply parting the crowd before him from his sheer bulk. "Where'd you go? Don't tell me you wandered off…honestly, you know I…"

Rider trailed off as his supernatural senses heard Waver's voice, crying out in pain, followed by his nose picking up the scent of blood. Rider quickly followed his senses, down a dark alley and around a corner…

…and there they were. A trio of thugs in scuffed and dirty clothes, kicking and stepping all over Waver, who was curled up on the ground, the better to protect his internal organs.

"We won't ask you again, guvnor." One of the thugs said, stepping down on Waver's head. "Hand over your money and jewelry, or else."

"And your shoes." Another thug said.

"That coat looks real warm too." The third thug said.

"Hey now," Rider said, and all three of them turned to him in surprise. "Is this really necessary? I know life can be hard, but turning to crime isn't the answer, you know?"

"Screw you!" the thugs shouted. "You with this little punk?"

"Yes I am. He's a friend of mine, so I can't really let you just beat him down." Rider said, while walking closer. "That said, I'm not one for avoidable violence, so just walk away and…"

Two of the thugs punched Rider in the belly…

…and the sound of breaking bone was followed by screams as the thugs recoiled, their fists all but literally pulverized from striking something harder than concrete. Their leader screamed in his turn and pulled out a revolver, and fired repeatedly at Rider, ignoring his attempts to calm the leader down.

Bullets just bounced off Rider and ricocheted everywhere…

…and struck the gang leader in a shin. Now it was his turn to fall to the ground screaming, his fellow gangsters grabbing him before turning to run, looking behind them with fearful eyes.

Rider sighed and rubbed his head with disappointment. "That was…not, how I wanted this to end." He said, before turning to Waver. "You alright, Waver?"

"A bit banged up," Waver said, helping himself to stand by climbing against the wall. "But nothing serious…sorry."

Rider looked surprised and confused. "What for?" he asked.

"For getting mugged so easily." Waver said with a sigh. "If I'd been more careful, then…"

Laughing, Rider quickly patted Waver on the back and pulled him close, an arm around the younger man's shoulders. "It's no problem at all." He said. "Just be more careful next time. And you did well, not giving-in to them. That's a victory in itself. Take heart from that, learn from your mistakes today, and be all the stronger and better for it. Alright, Waver?"

Waver was silent for a long moment, and then he nodded. "Yeah," he said, straightening himself up. "I understand. And thanks."

"That's the spirit!"

* * *

Magi swarmed all over the Tohsaka mansion. Some stood guard, while others oversaw the securing of materials and their stowing of transit. The stockpiled gems in the workshop, mystic codes and artefacts, books, files, papers, and the like, all were carried away for analysis and archiving at the Clock Tower.

The same went for the books in the library, while others scoured the mansion for secret compartments, hidden rooms, and out-of-way vaults and storage places. Others more gathered artworks and other precious objects, to be further looked into for magical value later on, and if not, to be auctioned off.

The furniture was also left alone, though again depending on if magical value could be found. If not, then they along with the mansion would either be auctioned off later on once all…potential, leaks about the supernatural had been removed. Or, they'd be passed on to the next Second Owner.

The current one was currently…indisposed. Indeed, he had been the first to be taken away, the haggard and unkempt Tokiomi led away wearing a smock and a straitjacket, accompanied by a trio of filthy dolls, one each for his family. The smock had been as much courtesy as much as it was for the comfort of the enforcers. On finding the man, he'd been wallowing in his filth, and stunk to high heaven.

In any case, Tokiomi would have his crest removed, the latter to be archived and the man himself committed to a mental hospital with ties to the Association. Considering he was talking all about magical matters – as though he was teaching, in fact – to the doll representing his older daughter, his life henceforth would be under constant surveillance, every word that came from his mouth to be studied for any further value.

There might be more…in-depth, questioning and the like of the man, but that remained to be seen. For now, that is.

And sitting on a lamppost outside, hidden by a necklace taken from the Gate of Babylon, a little blonde boy with red eyes watched it all, legs lazily waving back and forth. "What a sad end," he said softly to himself. "Even if he wasn't a very good man, this was not a good way to go."

The boy-king sighed as he got up, childishly rocking on his heels as he considered the matter further. "Still," he finally said. "It's not like none of this is his fault. All actions have consequences, and those consequences have to be faced."

Sighing again, Gilgamesh jumped down, landing lithely on the road. "At least his family's in good hands now." He said, before walking away, arms folded behind his head. "Oh well…what to do…what to do…oh, I know! I think I'll go play with Illya, and maybe have some cookies from Missus Emiya!"

Grinning to himself in a way that would have his older self palming his face in embarrassment at the complete lack of royal dignity, Gilgamesh ran down the streets with full intent to cross the city to where the Emiya had dug themselves in. But of course: they had a lonely child who was more than happy to play with him, and her mother was very nice.

And she had cookies and cake and other sweet things.

Life was good.

* * *

Lancer sighed as he felt his contract with Sola-Ui break, having touched the tip of Gae Dearg to the command spells of his Master as she slept in bed. Yes…this was the best for all concerned.

He had, after all, answered Kayneth's summons to return to the world. And he had only ever consented to become Sola-Ui's Servant in the hope of claiming the Grail and using its power to restore Kayneth to his full abilities. But with the Holy Grail found tainted and worse than useless, and its subsequent destruction…

…such was no longer possible. And thus, he no longer had any reason to stay.

Shifting to astral form, Lancer phased through the floors above, towards the roof. With his connection with his Master gone, he probably had only until the sunrise before he vanished from the world. But if that was so, then he would die with the sunrise as his last sight.

_Shame…Ireland is only an island away. If I could, I'd die on the shores of home, watching the Sun rise over the waters…_

_…but things never go as I hope they would, do they?_

Sitting in silence on the motel's roof, Lancer considered his actions now and in the recent past. As Kayneth's Servant, he had nothing to regret. To be sure, he had unintentionally seduced his lord's wife…nothing willfully done to regret, then…and he'd suffered his lord's displeasure more than once, but for all that, he'd served his lord true and honorably.

Even transferring his allegiance had been done for the sake of his lord's betterment…

…and in that light, even his actions now were not something to be regretted.

His allegiance had always been to Kayneth. And now that Kayneth was dead, there nothing to keep him here.

Vengeance perhaps…but Sola-Ui was clearly uninterested in that. She'd made no attempt to contact her relatives, and indeed, actively sought to avoid them. That was even the reason why they were here, in a dirty, soot-stained, fish-reeking village along the east coast of Britain, hiding out until Sola-Ui could gather what she needed to live comfortably with, and then disappear onto the continent.

And while Lancer could pressure her to seek vengeance…

…it was not meet for a knight to do so to a woman, even as…callous, and self-serving as Sola-Ui was.

No…better to just cut ties with her, and move on. Move on…return to the Throne of Heroes…as he once did at the end of his mortal life…

As the Sun began to climb over the horizon, the velvet of night giving way to the pearl and rose of dawn, and as Lancer's prana waned and began to run out, the Knight of Fianna smiled, and a name came to mind as he faded away.

_Grainne…_

* * *

Cerberus, once known as Sakura Tohsaka but now to most as Sakura Matou and as Kirsikka Edelfelt to others, sat drinking tea in her personal residence in the country about an hour's drive out from Tokyo. Unlike the family residence in Fuyuki to the south, this was her and her house alone, built on top of a wooded hill sloping down to a waterfront on the Pacific below.

Sakura sat unconcerned as a car drove up to the front of her house, and then footsteps were climbing up to the front of the door. There was a knock.

"Come in." Sakura said, and Rin Tohsaka – _her _Rin Tohsaka – opened the door to get in.

Sakura pointed at Rin's belly, which was starting to show a baby bump. "Have I been gone that long?" she asked.

"I don't know." Rin said, walking over to sit opposite her sister. Full by blood, legally only half. "Where have you been all this time?"

"Eh…you'll figure it out soon enough." Sakura said with a grin, pulling out a USB and tossing it to Rin. "If you don't know how to use it, I'm sure one of your underpaid flunkeys does."

"They are _not _underpaid and I am not letting them access something of this value. Also…the Kaleidoscopic Buoy is _not _a toy."

Sakura looked unimpressed. "As I recall," she said. "You didn't hesitate tearing strips off your counterpart's back during that trip of ours back then. And you were in favor of letting my cousin's mirror image to just bleed out too."

"…that's different."

"Oh really?"

"Yes."

For a long moment there was silence, and then both sisters were smiling at each other. "Tea?" Sakura offered.

"Please and thank you."

Sakura shrugged and poured tea for her sister. "I'm sure the experimental data will come in useful for you, one way or another." She said. "If one can travel through time, then one can also travel through space."

Rin took a sip of her tea and nodded in approval. "How far?" she asked.

"Directly from Japan to Germany, and then back again." Sakura answered. "The portal was stable – very much so – for more than two minutes too."

"Oh now that was very well done." Rin said with a grin, and eyeing the USB Sakura had given her with awed eyes. "Yes, this is going to very helpful with some very sensitive work."

Sakura shrugged. "Here's to your success." She said, and raising her teacup in a toast. "Just…don't push yourself too much. It's not just your life on the line, after all. My niece or nephew are counting on you too."

"I know…but thanks for your concern anyway."

Sakura just smiled and drank her tea.

* * *

Deep beneath Mt. Enzo, there is a cavern.

There, the ley-lines intersect.

There, the power of the Earth is gathered over a period of decades. It is used to power the summoning of Servants, to reduce the strain on the Masters from bringing incarnated Heroic Spirits back into the World.

And there, should the Grail be completed, the path to the Root would be opened.

And ever since the Einzbern sought to cheat their way to victory during the Third Holy Grail War, there Angra Mainyu has slumbered.

It was a slumber that ended with the Fourth Holy Grail War, an awakening that would lead to a short, relative calm before the storm, before the world was to be blessed with its own evil. But thanks to the intervention of one possessed of mysteries from beyond the world, destiny had been denied. Judgment had been denied. The world continued to endure, ignorant and uncaring of its sins, and continued to add to them.

Or was it?

Statuary that once shone with golden light were dull and lifeless, the great orb of the Greater Grail cracked and shattered. Magical energy no longer flowed into the cavern, the ley-lines broken and their courses shifted following the impromptu ritual crafted by Irisviel von Einzbern.

With the receding shadows of dawn outlining a circle and linking together mystic codes prepared and positioned by the Masters, magical energy which should have fed the Grail were instead used to power a counter-magic ritual. One that aimed not at the mysteries of the Grail, but that which made them possible: Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern's magic circuits.

Each and every last one of them had been reduced to ash, and without them, the Grail was no more.

Shouldn't it?

_Angra…Mainyu…_

Water dripped down from the cavern's walls, leaking from underground aquifers and into the rock and soil, and thence into unfilled, underground spaces. It pooled at the bottom, ran down the walls, and dripped onto the ruins of the Greater Grail, through its cracked and broken form, and into the pool.

_Angra Mainyu…_

Inky darkness swirled in the water, so minute as though they were tricks of the eye. They lasted but a fraction of a second, but with every drop of water from the Greater Grail, there they were.

_Angra Mainyu…hates you all…_

_Angra Mainyu…curses you all…_

_Die…_

_…agony…_

_…all…_

_…die…_

_…die…_

_…die…_

_…die…_

_…die…_

_…die…_

_…die…_

_…die…_

_…die…_

_…die…_

_…die…_

_…die…_

_…die…_

_…die…_

The End (?)

* * *

A/N

And that's a wrap. A bit anti-climactic, I know, but that's deliberate. Not everything has to end with flashy explosions, blazing light and power, speeches about the triumph of good over evil, etc.

Besides, nothing is ever truly over. And while the ending seems to be a happy one…

…is it really?


End file.
